PETALING JAYA: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia has reacted strongly to DAP state assemblyman Ronnie Liu’s criticism of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, with several Bersatu leaders demanding that DAP act against Liu.

A Bersatu supreme council member listed examples of DAP leaders allegedly attacking Bersatu and Dr Mahathir, and making statements that have offended Malays and Muslims, and he suggested that Bersatu reconsider its political alliance with DAP if such actions continue.

The tension between the two Pakatan Harapan component parties has since eased after it was announced that Liu, the Sungai Pelek assemblyman, will face the DAP disciplinary committee over his statement issued on Tuesday.

DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke said Liu’s statement was an act of sabotage to destabilise and break the unity of the government.

“That statement is Liu’s personal opinion and it is very uncalled for and very irresponsible.

“No one from Pakatan should ever question the unity within the coalition and no single leader from any component party should talk about the exclusion of any component of Pakatan, including the DAP,” he told reporters yesterday after officiating Port Klang Free Zone’s transformation master plan in Klang.

In the statement, Liu, who is also DAP central executive committee member, cautioned Dr Mahathir against Bersatu making decisions that were not in line with Pakatan’s values.

Liu said DAP, PKR, Amanah, Parti Warisan Sabah and United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) have enough seats in Parliament to form a majority without Bersatu.

“Bersatu may have 26 MPs now, but DAP, PKR, Amanah, Warisan and Upko collectively have 113 seats in Parliament, enough to form a majority,” he wrote.

“They can band together and form a government without Bersatu.”

Loke said the party’s disciplinary committee would meet to decide on the action to be taken against Liu.

He stressed that the government was formed by Pakatan’s four parties and Warisan as a whole and this was the people’s mandate that Pakatan respects and upholds.

“We are committed to Pakatan and we want to show our seriousness in terms of upholding the unity of Pakatan.

“If there’s a statement from among DAP leaders, internally we will take action.

“That is a very strong message, not only to Liu but to everyone. No one should ever try to destabilise Pakatan, ” he said.

Liu, a former Selangor exco member, tried to calm things down yesterday by clarifying that he had not called for Bersatu to leave the ruling coalition, and denied that he was out to sabotage the unity of Pakatan as alleged by Loke.

“No such thing (as sabotage). I love Harapan very much. I did not say in my article to ask Bersatu to leave.

“I think he (Loke) might have misunderstood that I asked Bersatu to leave,” Liu was quoted as telling a news portal.

That did not stop the Youth chiefs of the four Pakatan component parties from coming out in support of DAP’s intention to act against Liu.

In a statement, the Youth leaders from Bersatu, PKR, DAP and Amanah said that Pakatan believed in being open should any of its members wish to voice out constructive criticism.

However, they described Liu’s statement as being “very irresponsible” and said that appropriate action should be taken against him.

“He should not have questioned the unity and harmony that exists in Pakatan.

“Actions such as the one by Liu only brings forth unnecessary speculations and quarrels between Pakatan component parties,” said the leaders.

They also thanked the DAP leadership for acting immediately to refer Liu to the party’s disciplinary committee.

The statement which carried the names of Bersatu Youth (Armada) chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, PKR Youth chief Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, Amanah Youth chief Mohd Sany Hamzan and DAP National Socialist Youth (Dapsy) chief Howard Lee also reminded other leaders within Pakatan to remember the reason they were voted in by the people.

“Stop all attempts to disagree and keep on being focused on serving the people.

“The journey to build Malaysia Baharu requires diligence, cooperation and strenuous effort from each component party in Harapan,” they said.

The tone is milder than that of previous statements from Bersatu leaders yesterday.

Earlier, Syed Saddiq said Armada would wait no longer than a week for an apology from Liu or disciplinary action by DAP.

“If not, Armada Bersatu will not hesitate to act on such a rude attack.

“If DAP does not do anything, Armada will freely attack DAP, including its top leadership,” said Syed Saddiq in a Facebook post.

Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik, who is also Simpang Renggam MP for Bersatu, said the belittling of fellow component parties in Pakatan like how Liu did was insolent and without basis.

“Such cheap political culture will only cause damage to the current situation.

“It causes more division and also hampers the reform agenda that we are in the midst of implementing,” said Maszlee.

Bersatu supreme council member Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen issued a statement listing several cases of DAP leaders making statements that he said could jeopardise the relationship of parties in Pakatan.

“Personally, I think Bersatu needs to reconsider its political alliance with DAP if DAP leaders continue to openly attack Bersatu and Dr Mahathir’s leadership and to make statements that hurt the feelings of Malays and Muslims, without the party leadership acting against these leaders,” he said.

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/10/24/the-heat-is-on-ronnie-liu