Tunku Aziz is not a gentleman anymore: Aspan

KUALA LUMPUR: A DAP member Aspan Alias who once described the party's former vice chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim as a gentleman no longer holds to that view.

“Now that Tunku Aziz had left the party and had said so many things, I don’t think he is the gentleman I thought he was,” Aspan said when contacted yesterday.

“I wish him luck in his future endeavours," adding that he hoped Tunku Aziz would not take the whole thing too badly as even "Prophet Adam was banished from Heaven."

Aspan said exit of party members is a normal thing in politics citing the examples of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who left Umno and former MCA leader Michael Chen leaving the party to join Gerakan.

Asked whether he is not worried with the Malays’ questionable fate in the DAP, Aspan said he is the least perturbed about it.

“DAP is not about Tunku Aziz or Aspan Alias. It’s the party for the people who believe in its struggle and mission.”

“It is only the foolish rooster that believes the sun won't rise if it doesn't crow,” Aspan said.

Political scientist Dr Chandra Muzaffar however believed that politicians such as Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim would only leave the party when moral principles are compromised.

Dr Chandra then drew parallels to his own departure from Parti Keadilan Rakyat in 2001, saying: “a member of any parties who has principles can deal with differences with the party leadership as long as it did not involve compromising his or her principles.”

In his case, Dr Chandra who is the former deputy president of PKR said, he left because he could not take (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim’s Machiavellian politics.

“At that time I felt Anwar was more interested in himself than the larger struggle of the people. I was concerned with how he speaks differently from one community to another,” Dr Chandra said.

“In Tunku Aziz’s case, I believe he is right in stating his opinion against Bersih as he took the nation’s interest first as it involves the upholding of the law.”

“He (Tunku) might feel, since he is in the democratic party there is a room for any dissenting views. He was proven wrong,” Dr Chandra added.

Tunku Abdul Aziz announced his resignation from the DAP, which stands for Democratic Action Party, in a talk show aired on NTV7 on Monday.

He had previously revealed that the reason why the DAP had not extended his senatorship was due to him speaking out against Bersih.

Veteran journalist Datuk A.Kadir Jasin wrote Dr Chandra and Tunku Abdul Aziz are two good people whom he knows personally but were misled by politics.

“The two people who did good but thought they could do better by getting involved in politics are Dr Chandra Muzaffar and Tunku Abdul Aziz. So they dive into the political arena. Those who are brave enter party politics whereas those who are less courageous but also want to be political join partisan NGOs.” Kadir wrote.

Commenting on what Kadir wrote, Dr Chandra said people with idealism should take principled positions, including joining political parties, to bring reforms in the political world.

Asked whether he regretted his venture into politics, Dr Chandra said: “I do get quite sad when people vilify me for my views such as on Bersih, without looking at the message I am trying to convey.”

“At times like that, I do feel I should not have joined politics in the first place.”

In an interview with The Star yesterday Tunku Abdul Aziz expressed his relief for finally being freed from tyranny of demagogue, directing to DAP’s secretary general Lim Guan Eng.

Source: MOLE