Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (picture) said the party would not back Datuk Ibrahim Ali in the next general election as the Perkasa chief was eroding Barisan Nasional’s (BN) support among the non-Malays.
He also dismissed allegations that Umno had strong ties with the Malay rights group,
“Why should Umno support him? Umno should put a candidate in Pasir Mas. We will contest in Pasir Mas,” Tengku Adnan told The Malaysian Insider in an interview yesterday.
Ibrahim , who was sacked from Umno in 2004, won the Pasir Mas seat in Election 2008 under a PAS ticket.
In 2005, he contested as an independent in the Pengkalan Pasir by-election but obtained only 415 votes and lost his deposit. Pengkalan Pasir is a state constituency situated in the Pasir Mas town centre.
Ibrahim abandoned his partnership with PAS soon after Election 2008 and founded Perkasa to defend what he called the constitutional position of the Malays.
The group which has successfully attracted more than 50,000 members nationwide has been pressuring the Najib administration to state its support for pro-Bumiputera economic policy, despite the government’s attempt to liberalise the country’s economy.
Ibrahim has openly confronted Najib on his reforms.
Recently, Ibrahim challenged Datuk Seri Najib Razak to declare that his 1 Malaysia concept— introduced to promote national unity — was consistent with the concept of “Ketuanan Melayu” (Malay supremacy), which Ibrahim claimed to be constitutionally enshrined.
“As a secretary-general I can tell you, we have nothing to do with Perkasa, and certain things Perkasa is doing we are not happy [with], because they are eroding our support,” said Tengku Adnan when it was pointed out that many Perkasa members are from Umno.
“When they talk about my Chinese friends or my Indian friends, they make us lose more votes,” he added.
Tengku Adnan reminded Perkasa leaders that BN had to address the needs of all racial groups in the country and could not afford to discriminate against anyone if it wanted to continue governing Malaysia.
“Please slow down. Whatever you do, please think properly. What is the end result? What do you want for Malaysia? You want a civil war?” asked Tengku Adnan.
“I know when I say this, the Perkasa members will attack me,” he added.
Tengku Adnan also dismissed the need to talk to Ibrahim over the matter.
“I don’t have to talk to him. It is not easy to talk to Datuk Ibrahim Ali, let’s just leave him in his own world,” he said.
Tengku Adnan stressed that most Perkasa leaders were those who were defeated in the last Umno election in 2008 and sought a political platform for them to be heard.
“They are not wanted in Umno, they are no more leaders they are just ordinary members,” he said.
Tengku Adnan, however, admitted that some grassroots Umno leaders were also active in Perkasa.
“In my division, my vice-chief is also the Putrajaya Perkasa chief. He asked me for permission, I said you can join but I told him don’t destroy the country,” he added referring to Nordin Hassan.
comments
First clear message from UMNO. Now Ibrahim Ali knows where he stands. He only has the support of the UMNO has-beens.
He can take on Khairy in Rembau in the next GE. Let us see who had more support - the immature young man or the immature old man. He has burned his sampan with PAS.
Sack all UMNO members who are part of Perkasa to show you are sincere in your words and then compete with fairness and competency with PR to form a two party government. If you can't do that then you're just paying lip service! The inactions by UMNO government to curb Perkasa has already lost all the non-Malay votes. You have an uphill task to prove your words. LOL
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