PM to PPP: Go if you want to - Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Dec 9, 2008 By NG SI HOOI

PPP is free to quit the Barisan Nasional coalition if it wants to, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.

The government has no plans to amend the Internal Security Act (ISA), said Abdullah, also the coalition chairman, after a Barisan supreme council meeting here on Tuesday.

Recently, party president Datuk M. Kayveas said the PPP would pull out of Barisan Nasional if the ISA was not amended before the next general election.

He said PPP’s Youth and Wanita divisions wanted the ISA abolished, and he had to follow their proposals.

He also said Barisan had to make changes before the next general election, adding that “it would be suicidal if we did not.”

When asked whether this meant that PPP was free to leave the Barisan, Abdullah said: “If that is their choice, what can we do?”

Kayveas’ statement was slammed by many Barisan leaders, largely members of the largest component party Umno, who said it reflected badly on the coalition’s unity.

However, MCA central committee member Wong Nai Chee said his party supported PPP’s call to amend the ISA.