KUALA LUMPUR, THURS: April 24, 2008 - BERNAMA
Barisan Nasional (BN) is not worried over talk of its members of parliament in Sabah defecting to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) as claimed by the party’s de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Instead, it was Pakatan Rakyat that should be worried about their MPs crossing over to BN as the people are very angry with the RM100 million hi-tech pig farm project in Selangor, Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said today.
“I think it is Anwar who should be worried. Perhaps, there may be Pakatan Rakyat component parties that will opt to join BN. People are very angry with what is happening in Selangor now.
“He should realise that the Malays are very angry. Not that I want to play racial sentiments here, it is not the question of pig rearing which is a racial issue, but is that the priority of the PKR-led Pakatan Rakyat state government in Selangor,” he told reporters at Parliament House after checking on the preparations for the live telecast of the Dewan Rakyat proceedings next week.
Ahmad Shabery said Umno’s position in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat was still strong, with more than 70 seats in hand, as compared to PKR’s 31.
Anwar claimed yesterday that some BN MPs in Sabah have already decided to join Pakatan Rakyat and were only waiting for the right time to cross over.
“What is holding them is the timing. These MPs are not even sworn in Parliament yet. We are not in a rush,” he had told reporters in Kota Kinabalu.
On preparations for the live telecast, Ahmad Shabery said he was satisfied with the infrastructures available at the parliament building for the live coverage.
He said the live telecast of the Dewan Rakyat sitting would help forge a greater bond between the people and the government, adding that this was what the people had asked for.
“What’s important is not the half-an-hour live telecast, the 30-minute live coverage is only the beginning .
“If the necessary infrastructures are in place, we can extend the coverage from half-an-hour to one hour or to even how many hours we want,” he said.
Ahmad Shabery said the government might consider extending the live telecast of the proceedings should it received good response from the people.
“We don’t want to waste public funds. If the people are interested to watch the Dewan Rakyat proceedings and it does not disrupt their working hours, it’s not impossible that we increase the duration of the live coverage.
“We may also beam repeat telecast at night. This is also not impossible for RTM to air the happenings in the Dewan Rakyat via a special channel, especially now that RTM’s operations are being digitalised,” he added
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