Tunku Aziz asked to quit
(Malaysian Digest) – Democratic Action Party (DAP) vice chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim has been asked to leave the party for allegedly not toeing the party’s line.
Selangor DAP assemblyman for Kota Alam Shah M Manoharan is of the opinion that Tunku Aziz, who is also a Senator, should quit DAP if he doesn’t agree with the party’s stance on the Bersih street demonstrations.
Manoharan told The Mole: “Tunku Abdul Aziz should leave the party if he cannot agree with us, especially on Bersih.”
“If he is really a man of honor, he should not hold on to his Senator post too. Leave it and do not wait for his term to expire.”
In a scathing attack, Manoharan accused his vice president of not appreciating the struggles of DAP leaders in championing human rights, and disregarded the honor of senatorship awarded to him by the party.
“Despite him being aware that he was breaking the party’s stand on the matter, I find it unacceptable for him to continue defying the party and keeps reiterating his stand,” Manoharan stressed.
Manoharan who had previously been reprimanded by the DAP disciplinary committee for his slur against Jalur Gemilang was commenting on Tunku Abdul Aziz’s statement on Saturday, where he continued to criticize Bersih’s organizers for allowing politicians to hijack the demonstration and for solely blaming the police force for the clashes.
“Tunku Aziz was not there (at the demonstration). What does he know about what had transpired? It is outrageously wrong for Tunku Abdul Aziz to comment in such manner.
“DAP disciplinary committee should have taken stern action against Tunku Aziz when he first commented about Bersih 3.0 last week.
“I still believe it is the police who should be blamed and take the responsibility over what happened,” Manoharan added.
Tunku Abdul Aziz had said yesterday that the Bersih organizers should look at themselves first before being so quick to blame the police for last Saturday’s violence, when they had allowed politicians to hijack the demonstration.
The Mole reported on Tuesday that DAP had no plan for any disciplinary action against Tunku Abdul Aziz.
Tunku Aziz’s decision to join DAP in 2008 was lauded by many DAP leaders including its national publicity secretary Tony Pua, who once wrote that getting Tunku Abdul Aziz, whom many regard as a towering Malaysian in the party as a big catch.
However due to his latest remarks against the Bersih 3.0 demonstrations, Tunku Abdul Aziz was called an embarrassment to the DAP by the party’s secretary general Lim Guan Eng.
Bersih 3.0 steering committee Wong Chin Huat when contacted said he was surprised with Tunku Abdul Aziz’s statement.
“Coming from a police family, Tunku (Abdul Aziz) should not be defending the violence.
“Is he saying just because politicians spoke at the event, it is justified for any political violence? Are the police paid to beat the politicians and protesters?” Wong questioned, while blaming the police for the alleged violence at the demonstration that turned into riots…
Wong also questioned why the uniformed police were stationed at the barricades instead of the FRU, suggesting that the situation should have been handled differently.
Bersih 3.0 co-chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreevanasan said in a text message in response to Tunku Abdul Aziz’s statement: “We do not blame all the police but some who were clearly there to create the trouble. When did we create trouble?”
“Remember there was no violence until after the police shot tear gas. Once tear gas was shot it became their responsibility. How can we be responsible for police violence?”
Commenting on the hijack by politicians during the rally, Ambiga said: “Bersih will never lose its cause. Ask anyone to say that to more than 250,000 people. While politicians were there it was the ordinary people who made it happen.”
