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Monday, May 12, 2008

'Pakatan' merely a PR exercise - Khairy

Bernama (12/5/08): A backbencher said Monday that the opposition coalition comprising PAS, DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) known as `Pakatan Rakyat' is merely a public relations (PR) exercise.

Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) said the coalition was actually fragile, weak and suspicious of one another and were afraid of being stabbed in the back by each other.

"The coalition is purely a PR exercise. PAS and DAP are only putting up a show so that they will look impressive and strong in the eyes of the public. But in reality, there is clearly no mutual understanding basically," he said when debating the motion of thanks on the Royal address at the Dewan Rakyat Monday.

He questioned the PAS stand on the social contract raised by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) so that it would be reviewed as well as the issue on the Islamic state pursued by PAS.

The lack of response to the issues raised by Lim portrayed the Islamic party as a `toothless lion' and afraid of the mastermind that PAS was collaborating with, Khairy said.

"We in the ruling party are also not ideal and have our weaknesses. But for as long as the Barisan Nasional (BN) is helming the federal government, we will defend the social contract that is enshrined in the Constitution," he said.

Khairy also questioned why Pakatan Rakyat could not give a commitment to do away with the New Economic Policy in all the states under its administration for greater uniformity and consistency.

He said the inconsistency was apparent in the five states administered by the Pakatan Rakyat where in Kedah and Kelantan it was an Islamic State, a Malaysian Malaysia in Penang, a puppet government in Perak and the pig breeding project in Selangor.

He also asked for a special briefing to be held in Parliament where a detailed statement would be tabled so that the financial position and where the Petronas profits were being channelled to would be clearly understood by all members of Parliament.

According to the Petronas financial statement 2007, the government received RM48.3 billion in terms of taxes and royalty and this amount represented 66.2 per cent of the gross profits of Petronas while the balance was utilised for oil explorations in foreign countries.

Khairy also suggested that the government adopted the `e-perolehan' system which was capable of saving as much as 25 per cent in terms of cost for the purchase of items as was being practised by mega companies in the world.

He also proposed the `track and trace' system in the government administration so that the public could obtain immediate and current feedback on their applications which would improve the delivery system and reduce corruption.

In his speech, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) defended his statement which touched on the rights of the Malay Rulers, which he said had not violated the law.

"So far, 20 police reports had been made against me, even 2,000 police reports can be made, but what I had stated (on the issue of the transfer of the Perak Islamic Religious Department Director Datuk Jamry Suri) did not breach the law," he said.

He hoped the Attorney-General would give appropriate consideration when the investigation reports on the case were sent to him very soon.

The Dewan Rakyat will sit again Tuesday.

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