GEORGE TOWN, Jan 1 — Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar’s exit from PAS showed that the Islamist party has deviated from its original political course, DAP’s Lim Guan Eng claimed today.
The DAP secretary-general further claimed that Mahfuz left PAS as the latter wanted to oppose Barisan Nasional (BN) whereas the Islamist party “secretly worked with Umno.”
“He left PAS to be in the Opposition, so it is clear that Mahfuz wants to ensure that there is a strong Opposition front against BN,” he said.
The Penang chief minister added that PAS was no longer a serious Opposition party as even rival Umno praised it as an example of a “good Opposition” party.
Lim was commenting on Mahfuz's announcement yesterday that the latter was quitting PAS after over three decades.
While Mahfuz did not specify which Pakatan Harapan (PH) party he plans to join, he said PAS’s difficulty in cooperating with PH as one of the reasons he chose to leave.
Earlier, Lim also commented on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s New Year message that touched on the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Bank Negara Malaysia's forex losses during the 1990s.
Najib had said that the government decided to form the RCI in response to calls from politicians such as Lim Kit Siang, Guan Eng's father, for the matter to be investigated.
The RCI has implicated Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and other former government officials for the RM31.5 billion allegedly lost through rogue trading.
Guan Eng told Najib today not to drag the elder Lim into the matter, noting that his father had called for such an inquiry for over two decades.
“Why the RCI now, after 25 years, and why not set up RCI for current scandals such as 1MDB and Felda,” he asked.
Guan Eng said he is responding to Najib on Kit Siang’s behalf as his father is still recuperating after surgery to remove a kidney tumour on December 19.
“It is clear that this RCI has a political motive to attack the Opposition,” Guan Eng reiterated.
On his father's condition, Guan Eng said the operation was successful and 76-year-old is recovering well.
