GEORGE TOWN: Penang MCA has hit out at DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, saying his arguments that DAP has not been sidelined in Pakatan Harapan as self-deceiving.

State MCA chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng said the difference between the leadership of Pakatan and Barisan Nasional was clear, with Barisan having an arrangement which guarantees the representation of all component parties.

Lim recently said his party was neither sidelined nor did it dominate Pakatan, stating that the Opposition pact was a coalition of equals, unlike Barisan.

Tan, in a statement yesterday, said the arrangement of Pakatan’s latest line-up of 12 top posts was absurd.

“As a party with 36 lawmakers, which constitutes more than 50% of the 71 lawmakers in Pakatan, DAP obtained only one of the three deputy president posts, one of the four vice-president posts and one treasurer post in the 12-person line-up. DAP’s representation is only 25% of the Pakatan line-up.

“On the other hand, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia with only one lawmaker, was given the honorary chairman’s post, as well as the deputy president and vice-president posts.

“Also, PKR, which has fewer lawmakers than DAP, was also given de facto leader, chairman, as well as vice-president and secretary-general posts.

“If this is not regarded as the marginalisation of DAP, what is it then?” he asked.

Tan said that in Barisan, all component parties could appoint three representatives to attend its supreme council meeting, irrespective of the number of lawmakers a party has.

“Such an arrangement guarantees the representation of all component parties in Barisan and the equal standing of the different races.

“No one component party, or race will constitutes more than 50% of the representation in the supreme council.

“Taking Umno with 86 lawmakers as an example, though it constitutes about 65% of the 132 lawmakers in Barisan, it comprises only 10% representation in the supreme council.

“Furthermore, the decision made by the supreme council is always guided by the principle of consensus, whereby the decision will not be approved as long as it there is objection by any of the component party,” he said.

He cited one such example when PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s Private Member’s Bill on the proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act failed to materialise when all Barisan component parties could not reach a consensus on the issue.

-The Star-