GEORGE TOWN – The Penang PKR-DAP spat has ended, said state PKR chairman Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik.
Both parties were jostling among themselves for credit over the management of the pandemic.
“The issue has been put to rest as the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition’s cordial relationship continues as ‘Big, Strong and Friendly’,” said Bakhtiar, adding that it is a misunderstanding and perception of the leaders based on how the issue was expressed.
“Our relations are cordial. It is always cordial and never has any problem. We had the state PH meeting last Friday and the matter was not raised during the meeting. The strengthening of the coalition is more important than the conflict between DAP and PKR. It is a misunderstanding.
“It is a difference of opinion and perception as somebody is taking the credit for the decline of Covid-19 pandemic cases in the state. It is like the changing of the health minister with the science, technology and innovation minister; nobody is taking credit for anybody’s work,” he said.
Bakhtiar, who is also Balik Pulau MP, said this after attending the state-level “Jelajah Deepavali” event at the party headquarters in Bayan Baru here today.
The event saw PKR distributing 500 food packages to underprivileged Malaysian Indians in the state.
Each package contained flour, curry powder, spices, cooking oil and other ingredients to reduce the financial burden of the recipients.
Bakhtiar was asked to comment on the war of words between PKR’s health exco Dr Norlela Ariffin and several DAP leaders who said that the former claimed the credit for the success in reducing the number of Covid-19 cases in the state.
The Vibes reported that DAP and PKR have the most to lose if the two PH parties cannot resolve their festering spat ahead of the general election, as Penang voters could end up disenchanted with the constant politicking.
Bakhtiar said that the phenomenon continues and the infection trend is reducing.
“If somebody is taking over the position, the number of cases will also reduce. We thank everybody for playing their roles.
“We cannot say that Norlela didn’t play her role. She also played her role, she was very hard working as she put a lot of time into bringing down the number of cases.
“I have met Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow personally a few times and both of us agree that everybody shared their responsibility in bringing down the number of cases, so the issue was not raised during the meeting and the issue has been put to rest,” he added.
Also present at the event were state PKR deputy chairman Jason Ong Khan Lee, Penang state exco Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain and Batu Uban assemblyman A. Kumaresan.
Commenting on the recent registration of PH as a political coalition with the Registrar of Societies (RoS), Bakhtiar said that Penang is the first state in the country to register PH as a coalition officially.
“Now, we have to follow the rules and regulations of RoS when we conduct meetings, annual general meetings, elections and other events,” he added. – The Vibes, October 24, 2021
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