[UPDATED] Who asked Anthony Loke to make anti-Anwar statement, queries Ronnie Liu

KUALA LUMPUR – DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke has been castigated for his call to stop making Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim the sole Pakatan Harapan (PH) prime minister candidate, following the coalition’s heavy defeat in the recent Melaka election.

DAP central executive committee member Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew decried the view, enquiring which “powerful” person had asked Loke to make such a statement.

He characterised the statement as “dishonourable”, in view of the fact that DAP is PKR’s comrade-in-arms, yet is now showing that it is not a fair weather friend. 

Anwar is PH chairman and PKR president.

“Loke’s remark is myopic and, at best, mischievous,” said Liu – a former Selangor executive councillor and current Sg Pelek assemblyman – in a Facebook post today. 

“Election victory is not a destination – it is more like a journey of reforms.”

He said when PH won in the 14th general election in May 2018 it was deemed to be a “new dawn moment”, only for it to become a “shattered dream” when the government was replaced 22 months later.

“DAP celebrated in 2008 with victories in Penang, Perak, and Selangor,” he said, referring to some of the states that PH’s precursor, Pakatan Rakyat, had won.

“For years, our beloved LKS (Lim Kit Siang) tried three times to dislodge Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon as chief minister in Tg 1, 2, and 3 (DAP’s electoral campaigns in Penang) and DAP failed miserably,” he said.

He recalled DAP then touting Kit Siang to be akin to a “Robocop”, and that Koh was derogatorily likened to a durian without “seeds”. 

He said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng became the Penang chief minister in 2008 despite the fact that he was not state DAP chairman.  

“Of course, it ruffled the feathers of our Penang comrades as Guan Eng brought in non-Penangites like Tony Pua, Jeff Ooi (Chuan Aun), and Liew Chin Tong. 

“In victory, we rejoice and celebrate together, and in defeat, we denigrate PKR and Anwar – what are we telling the whole world? The saving grace is that our Kit Siang supported Anwar to continue as PH leader.

“Now the million-dollar question is, who asked Loke to make the statement? Who’s the person so powerful that Loke suddenly has the cojones to speak out?” he asked.

Loke, former transport minister during PH’s short-lived tenure as the federal government, was reported by The Malaysian Insight as saying the coalition should instead talk more about the reform agenda, and not just that Anwar should be prime minister.

This afternoon, PKR central leadership council member Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid had slammed Loke, asking if he had any other prime ministerial candidate in mind from DAP or Amanah.

“For me, it’s just Anwar. I don’t know if Guan Eng or (Amanah president) Mohamad Sabu want to be prime minister, it’s up to them,” he said.

The Kapar MP said it is not fair to place all the blame for PH’s defeat in Melaka on Anwar’s shoulders alone because there were many contributing factors that led to the loss.

“For me, those who talk about PKR’s defeat do not know the data. Many give their views at the national level, but they do not do research at all.

“If you don’t know the data, then shut up,” he said when commenting on Loke’s assertion.

In the election on November 20, Barisan Nasional won 21 of the 28 assembly seats, Perikatan Nasional (PN) won two, and PH won five. Four of PH’s victories were enabled by DAP candidates, while the fifth was secured by an Amanah candidate.

DAP also lost four seats that it had held.

‘Premature, infantile to blame Anwar’

Meanwhile, DAP central executive member P. Ramasamy said there is no reason for Anwar to resign or make a “gracious exit”.

The Penang deputy chief minister said the Melaka loss was not the personal fault of Anwar, and that other PH leaders have a share of the blame as to why things went wrong there.

“I think it is premature and infantile adventurism in casting the blame on Anwar, and not the coalition as a whole.

“It is a typical erroneous method of putting the blame on one person, as though Anwar was solely responsible for the electoral mishap.

“Why not cast the blame on others, against those who orchestrated the election?

“Why not put the blame on the PN government in general, and the Health Ministry for making it extremely difficult to campaign to attract voters?”

Ramasamy said the election outcome should not be used to pursue some “narrow sectarian interests”.

He said Anwar is not going to lead the coalition forever, and is prepared to give up under the right circumstances.

“It serves no purpose to throw a spanner in the works just because Anwar is getting old, and that he should be replaced by some young leaders.

“There is no guarantee that his successor might take the alternative coalition on the long and winding road to a better Malaysia,” he added. – The Vibes, November 27, 2021