KUALA LUMPUR: The peaceful gathering by taxi drivers planned for tomorrow at Padang Merbok is not a show of going against the government or to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for failing to solve the issue between cabbies and e-hailing service provider, Grab.
Head of Gabungan Teksi Semalaysia Kamarundin Hussain in saying this pointed out that the non-governmental organisation (NGO) was actually among the first who voiced out their readiness to support Pakatan Harapan (PH) back when Barisan Nasional (BN) was still in power.
On that note, Kamarundin said the main purpose of the gathering was to demand for the resignation of Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
Kamarundin in a statement, claimed that 'the whole of Malaysia knew that Loke was the reason why the issue between cabbies and Grab could not be resolved'.
He added that the ministry's failure had also opened up taxi drivers to attacks from various quarters, particularly public transport users.
"The explanation by the Prime Minister in a dialogue session with taxi drivers in Langkawi clearly shows that the minister involved (Loke) did not heed what Dr Mahathir repeatedly asked for," he said, adding that it did not make sense for them to demand for the resignation of Dr Mahathir, instead claiming that the individual who should be blamed was Loke.
Big Blue Capital (M) Sdn Bhd founder Datuk Shamsubahrin Ismail who is also a representative of taxi drivers in Malaysia previously announced the peaceful gathering, saying it would be attended by some 3,000 taxi drivers from around the country to fight for alleged injustice linked to Grab.
A call was also made for the sacking of Transport Minister Anthony Loke and Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) CEO Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah for their failure to solve the issue, hence angering taxi drivers.
Commenting further, Kamarundin who is also chairman of the Association for the Transformation of Malaysian Taxi Drivers (Persim) said the association's involvement in the gathering tomorrow should not be misinterpreted as going against Dr Mahathir or the government.