PETALING JAYA: Blaming National Unity and Social Well-Being Minister P. Waytha Moorthy for being responsible for the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple riot is like blaming Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman for Malaysia’s defeat in the recent AFF Suzuki Cup finals, said DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh (pix).
“I personally feel that to suggest that Wayhta Moorthy ought to be solely blamed for the Seafield issue and, therefore, ought to resign is, as correctly pointed out by some netizens, akin to demanding Syed Saddiq’s resignation for Malaysia’s loss to Vietnam in the recently concluded AFF Championships. Surely, this is going a bit too far.
“The death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim is most unfortunate and was a result of criminal acts committed by certain individuals who must be brought to justice. It should not be politicised and must be handled delicately,“ said Ramkarpal in a statement today.
Ramkarpal was referring to the spat between Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy and Syed Saddiq after the former leapt to the defence of Waytha.
He acknowledged that such public spats could be damaging to Pakatan Harapan, and “does not reflect well on ministerial unity in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government”.
Without being drawn into the spat, Ramkarpal, however, reminded Syed Saddiq that his actions were “against well-established conventions of collective ministerial responsibility”.
“Cabinet collective responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility, is a constitutional convention in Parliamentary systems that members of the Cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them,“ he said.
He stressed that regardless of whether one agrees or not with the way Waytha handled the Seafield temple issue, it is not quite right for a minister to demand the resignation of another minister.
“If at all Waytha Moorthy is to be reprimanded, such reprimand ought to come from the Prime Minister and not his fellow Ministers. Moreover, such public outbursts between fellow ministers certainly do not inspire public confidence in government unity,“ he explained.
He said Syed Saddiq’s demand for Waytha’s resignation was the act of a highly irresponsible minister and it is against the collective ministerial responsibility and has nothing to do with Syed Saddiq’s claim that he is being silenced from speaking his mind.
“It is hoped such public outbursts by ministers calling for the resignations of their colleagues stops as it can be detrimental to the healthy development and growth of the new PH administration.” he said.
