KUALA LUMPUR: The move by some opposition leaders to quit the party showed the party was weak and unable to be a saviour to the people, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak.
Referring to current developments, he said the opposition had failed to unite its members to remain with the party.
He said two days ago former Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Muhammad Muhamad Taib, who was previously with PKR had returned to the UMNO fold.
Earlier, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia(PPBM) Srikandi (Woman Wing) assistant secretary Hasnita Hishamudin, former PPBM secretary Kamarul Azman Habibur Rahman, vice-president Datuk Hamidah Osman and Srikandi’s head, also among the founders of PPBM, Ainina Saidin also quit the party.
“The reason they left the party was because they felt that the opposition’s struggle was in vain, were worried about seeing the split among the Malays, the party had never fought for the sake of its members or the people because it was more concerned with individual interests as well as that of cronies , and the party had become a DAP tool.
“The question is, can we trust such a party to govern our country ?” he questioned in a recent post on the blog sskeruak.blogspot.com, today.
Commenting on his note titled, ‘The importance of choosing a strong party,’ Salleh quotes the view of New Zealand’s political marketing expert, Lees-Marshment in his book ‘The Political Marketing Game (2011)’’ which states that to win an election, a party must have a good political marketing strategy.
According to the author, one of the strategies is it must be a market oriented party, the party should have a great product that can be marketed to the people.
“If in the Malaysian context, what is the product? Of course, the product is the party’s image, the party’s contributions and unity of the party.
“In this case, only UMNO and BN (Barisan Nasional) have this record,” he said
Salleh also quoted former US president Bill Clinton in his book, ‘Back to Work : Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy (2011)‘, which states that the people need a wise government for a strong economy. Besides being a smart government it must also be strong, united, guarding the welfare of the people and not be divided. - Bernama