KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 – Umno’s fear of losing power was the real reason why Perkasa exists, DAP’s Teresa Kok says. In rubbishing former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s allegation that the Malay rights wing group was formed in response to extremist views by non-Malays, Kok cited a former Election Commission chairman’s statement made when he joined Perkasa.
In 2013, Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman was reported to have said that his experience would help keep the majority race in power. Everyone, Kok said, knew what Rashid meant was to keep Umno in power. The Seputeh Member of Parliament, in a statement, also said that the former Prime Minister’s reasoning on Perkasa’s existence could be described by the Chinese proverb, “deceiving oneself and deceiving others”. “Dr Mahathir should be more frank and reveal the true reason why Perkasa is existing.”
Kok said it was clear that Dr Mahathir’s comments were an indirect attempt to justify his association and support for Perkasa. “I am not surprised that Dr Mahathir did not and could not cite any concrete proof or examples when he commented about the rise in extremist views among non-Malays because his claims are baseless.” She added Umno‘s failure to denounce Perkasa’s extremist views and the government‘s funding of its activities showed that Umno strongly supported Perkasa’s existence.
