Lim Kit Siang continues to turn the screws on DPM

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang is continuing to press ahead with turning the 1Malaysia concept into a burning political issue.

He has now thrown three challenges to Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to prove that he is sincerely and seriously committed to his boss Najib Abdul Razak's mission while speaking at a media conference at state DAP headquarters here yesterday

They are:

1. Whether as Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin would agree to the establishment of an Opposition-headed Parliamentary Select Committee on 1Malaysia?
2. Is he prepared to declare that the basis of 1Malaysia is `Ketuanan Rakyat Malaysia' and not `Ketuanan Melayu'?
3. Is he prepared to declare that the objective of 1Malaysia as defined by the 1M alaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Roadmap is to create a nation where every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion or region second- by setting the lead to be the first Umno national leader to declare that he is Malaysian first and Malay second?

Verbal trigger-happiness

Lim had fired the first shot in this war of words between the two leaders by declaring that Muhyiddin is not sincere in fulfilling Najib's 1Malaysia concept.

He had also asked whether Muhyiddin is the right-hand man of Najib or former premier Tun Mahathir Mohammad.

Rejecting the innuendo, Muhyiddin (left) shot back, saying Lim's head is filled with problems compounded by those of opposition parties, putting the veteran politician is under heavy pressure.

He also accused Lim of attempting to drive a wedge between him and his boss.

Lim retorted that his problems are not with the Pakatan but with the life and death struggle of Umno and the Barisan Nasional component parties staggering from the after effects of the 2008 general elections and the pathetic 10-month history of Najib's 1Malaysia campaign.

If Muhyiddin is serious about Najib's concept then he should be meeting opposition MPs in Parliament to forge an all-party platform to ensure the achievement of the 1Malaysia concept at all levels of national life, he added.

Lim (right) alleged that Muhyiddin had done none of these of this for the past 10 months even as deputy premier.