KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — To DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng, there are some things caretaker prime ministers should not joke about, such as sacking members of their Cabinet.
The federal Opposition politician today called out Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob after the latter recently “joked” about sacking 12 caretaker ministers from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition who had sent a letter to the King earlier this month objecting to the dissolution of Parliament.
“Sacking ministers and dissolving Parliament is a grave and serious act that involves the King and provided for in the Federal Constitution.
“Both actions should be people-centric in improving their livelihood and better interests of the nation, not trifled with irresponsibly as a joke,” Lim said in a statement.
He said the caretaker prime minister’s attempt to play off his remarks as a joke after being criticised publicly made a mockery of the Federal Constitution and the electoral process.
He questioned if the Umno vice-president was a suitable candidate to head the government.
“Is Ismail Sabri fit to be prime minister with three U-turns in one week?” Lim asked.
He noted that Ismail Sabri had changed his attitude towards the 12 PN members of his Cabinet, asserting that it demonstrated the Umno politician as a confused and even dishonest person.
Lim listed the four incidents to back his assertion, saying Ismail Sabri had first blamed the PN 12 on October 11 for his decision to dissolve Parliament despite warnings of the dangers of holding monsoonal polls.
He said the first U-turn was on October 13 when Ismail Sabri denied blaming the PN 12 for opposing the dissolution.
Lim said the second reversal was on October 17 when Ismail Sabri said he should have sacked the PN 12, and the third U-turn was on October 19 when the latter claimed he was only joking.
Ismail Sabri, the incumbent Bera MP, has been confirmed by his party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as its “poster boy” and prime ministerial candidate if the Barisan Nasional coalition it leads wins the 15th general election that has been set for November 19.
