PETALING JAYA: DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang is the party’s most qualified leader to be appointed as a minister, says party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
Guan Eng, who is also Finance Minister, said Kit Siang was the party’s most committed veteran and spent 50 years of his life serving DAP.
“He (Kit Siang) has been struggling for so many years for the party, facing many prosecutions as well as being jailed and twice detained under the Internal Security Act because of politics.
“I am confident that all party members agree that Lim Kit Siang is the most qualified person to be appointed as minister because of his struggles, but sadly he declined (the post) because he wanted to give way to young leaders,” he said at the Selangor DAP Convention here yesterday.
In May, Kit Siang was reported to have said that he would not join Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s cabinet as DAP had enough talents to serve the federal government.
Guan Eng also called on members of the party not to play racial and religious sentiments being harped by the opposition parties.
“We need to give priority to party unity. If we are to engage in racial sentiments and disunited, then we will be trapped in same mould as the opposition parties and begin to weaken.
“We do not want to emulate opposition parties who like to harp on racial sentiments and ultimately seen as weak as they are now,” he said.
Speaking to reporters later, Guan Eng expressed his surprise when there were parties who wanted Malaysia to quit from the United Nations (UN).
“If this happens, Malaysia will be the only country in the world that is not a member of the United Nations … I don’t understand why they (the opposition) play this sentiment,” he said.
Yesterday, when addressing the rally pertaining to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman was “attacking” the UN and claimed the world body tried to influence the country’s direction.
Meanwhile, DAP Selangor chairman Tony Pua has announced that he would not defend his post in the state party election held yesterday.
The election saw 40 candidates contesting for 15 posts in the Selangor DAP committee. – Bernama
