KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 — Gerakan has urged its fellow Perikatan Nasional (PN) component parties to resolve issues internally before airing them publicly.
Its information chief Wendy Subramaniam said, in a statement today, that failing to do so could incite misunderstandings within the coalition.
“If there are differences, within PN we sit down, discuss, and resolve them,” she said.
Wendy was commenting on a recent Facebook post by her PAS counterpart Ahmad Fadhli Shaari, in which the Pasir Mas MP expressed disappointment with Gerakan’s stance on donations from breweries to schools, raising doubts about their cooperation in the 16th general election (GE16).
In the same statement, Wendy acknowledged that PN members have differing views on Gerakan’s stance on this issue, and therefore, should bring it to the attention of PN leadership for internal discussion, just as party president Datuk Dominic Lau has done.
“It is inevitable that component parties will have different views on certain issues, policies, or events, but ultimately, these matters should be discussed within the PN leadership to find common ground that can be accepted by all.
“PN has always practised collective understanding, and we believe this debate has its own basis. The statement by PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari is his personal statement, representing his own approach. We respect it, but we put forth our own views,” she said.
Wendy went on to say Gerakan respects PAS’ political stance and struggle, but that the Islamist party must pay heed to the fact that Malaysia is a multi-racial country.
She added that understanding and respecting the rights of every Malaysian is crucial for any party with federal ambitions.
“It is only through unity that we can achieve shared prosperity. Any party that wishes to gain central power must garner support from all racial groups and accept the reality of a pluralistic society,” she said.
On a related note, Wendy urged the government to ease existing guidelines and allow Chinese schools to freely choose their partners when organising activities.
She said that Chinese national-type schools have to raise their own funds due to insufficient allocations from the government, in addition to covering the necessary development expenditure.
“Education must be prioritised. As long as such aid does not disrupt our children’s learning, there is nothing wrong with any contributions entering the school grounds, period,” she said.
