http://dapmalaysia.org 

Speech (2) by Lim Kit Siang at the DAP “Abolish ISA” ceramah at Serdang, Selangor on Sunday, 28th September 2008 at 9pm:  Let MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP and Sabah/Sarawak BN component parties declare whether they agree with the ousting of Abdullah as Prime Minister by March next year by the Umno Supreme Council “926” meeting In his speech to the Federal Territory (FT) Gerakan Wanita and Youth delegates conference yesterday, Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon rightly called for a meeting of the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council to discuss the candidacy for the Umno President. Koh said that although Umno party elections and post allocations are internal Umno matters, as Umno is the backbone of Barisan Nasional and the UMNO President is the Prime Minister, there is a need for the Barisan Nasional component parties to participate in the discussion and to give input on this issue in order for a consensus to be reached. I commend Koh for giving a correct analysis on what should be the respective positions of the other Barisan Nasional component parties vis-à-vis the power struggle in Umno. This is not an interference in the Umno internal party affairs, as Malaysians as a whole have an equal stake and interest as to who will become the Umno President as he will also be the Prime Minister so long as the federal government comes from the Umno-hegemonised Barisan Nasional. The position taken by Koh should be the position for all other BN component parties, whether Gerakan, MCA, MIC, SUPP or other BN parties from Sabah/Sarawak. The only question is whether Koh and political leaders from all the other BN component parties apart from UMNO are prepared to take a stand and declare whether they agree with the ousting of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister by March next year by the Umno Supreme Council “926” emergency meeting. It is clear that at the Sept. 26 emergency meeting of the Umno Supreme Coucil, Abdullah was given an ultimatum that unless he agrees to abandon his mid-2010 power transition plan and relinquish his premiership by March next year, and make clear that he would not to seek re-election as Umno President by October 9, he would be summarily and ignominiously evicted from the Putrajaya corridors of powers by his erstwhile Umno colleagues and subordinates! Let MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP and Sabah/Sarawak BN component parties declare whether they agree with the ousting of Abdullah as Prime Minister by March next year by the Umno Supreme Council “926” emergency meeting or are they totally irrelevant, impotent and non-existent on such a crucial and critical matter concerning who is to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia? Will the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council have any say as to whether the Umno Supreme Council “926” decision to oust Abdullah the Prime Minister by March next year should be endorsed or rejected? * Lim Kit Siang,  DAP Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor