'Dr M, Anwar not qualified to comment'

KOTA KINABALU, Feb 6 (Daily Express) -- Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Youth said Thursday that both former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PKR Adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim are not qualified to comment on the four Perak assemblymen who quit the opposition.

Its Secretary Webley Disim said Mahathir and Anwar's statements were a case of double standards considering what they had done in the past.

He recalled that when PBS won the state election in 1994 by a slim 25-23 margin, the Barisan Nasional (BN) under the leadership of Mahathir and Anwar went all out to entice PBS assemblymen to cross over to the BN.

PBS secured 25 seats while BN only managed 23 out of 48 seats at that time. The victory was shortlived as three PBS assemblymen defected to BN.

Webley said some of the PBS leaders who "hopped" to the Barisan were rewarded with ministerial positions in the Federal and State governments.

"Mahathir had given incentives to PBS assemblymen that led to the eventual collapse of the PBS-led government in 1994," he said.

Anwar, he said, was no different because the former Deputy Prime Minister was instrumental in persuading PBS assemblymen to abandon their party.

"So why should he (Anwar) be angry when his assemblymen now betrayed him. He did the same to PBS," he said, adding Anwar should now know how it felt when his own assemblymen became traitors.

"Hence, the statements by Mahathir and Anwar that the four Perak assemblymen had disregarded the people are simply hypocritical. "The duo not only did not reject the crossover of the assemblymen to the BN in 1994 but had encouraged them to do so."

Webley noted that PBS President Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan has until now never been made a "Tan Sri" while those who absconded the party and subsequently formed splinter parties have since been elevated to Tan Sris.

On this note, he said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak were the only ones qualified to talk about the assemblymen concerned.