DAP should settle its own internal affairs before commenting on UMNO’s leadership, including the position of UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said UMNO Youth deputy chief Mohd Hairi Mad Shah.
He described DAP Johor deputy chairman Senator Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali’s questioning of Ahmad Zahid’s position and suggestion that he be replaced as overstepping the mark.
“Take care of your own house before trying to rearrange the furniture in someone else’s house.
“Do not become a troublemaker in the Unity Government simply to gain political attention,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
His remarks followed DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook’s offer to resign as Transport Minister after an emergency meeting of the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC).
Sheikh Umar subsequently questioned Ahmad Zahid’s position as Deputy Prime Minister and suggested that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim consider another UMNO leader to replace him.
Mohd Hairi, who is also Johor executive councillor for Youth and Sports, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, said UMNO’s leadership is determined by its members through the party constitution and election process, rather than pressure or intervention from DAP.
“Since when was a DAP leader given the mandate to decide who is fit to lead UMNO?
“UMNO has never opened a tender to DAP to choose its president,” he said.
He also pointed to Sheikh Umar’s own acknowledgement that some DAP CEC members had initially disagreed with the decision concerning Loke.
“If your own house is still in a mess, tidy it up first. Do not try to sweep your own problems into UMNO’s yard and then pretend to be the country’s political cleaner,” Mohd Hairi said.
Meanwhile, Mohd Hairi stressed that cooperation within the Unity Government did not give any party a licence to interfere in the internal affairs of its political partners.
“UMNO is not DAP’s subsidiary. UMNO also does not need a ‘remote control’ from any DAP leader.
“We respect our partners in the Unity Government, but respect must be mutual and boundaries must be observed,” he said.
