ALOR SETAR - Pakatan Harapan (PH) should take a firm stance by removing 'parasites' within the coalition for the stability of the unity government.
Kedah Umno information chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin said this was because 'parasitic' leaders will only cause conflicts and hinder existing cooperation from being the best.
He said action must be taken against any coalition member leaning towards the left and not in line with the party before it becomes a problem in the government or political cooperation.
"If PH wants to continue cooperation in this unity government for a long time, they need to remove the parasites within the party.
"PH needs to be firm on this issue. External troublemakers need to be expelled from the party. Otherwise, the party will appear weak and surrender. Keeping them for a long time is useless, so just discard them," he said.
Shaiful said lately, one by one PH members have begun to show their true colours, where they have never agreed with the decision of the party leadership to form the unity government.
"It started with Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim who criticised the weak and fragile leadership of PH and calling for the change of Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Then, DAP member Tony Pua insulted the royal institution.
"Not long after that, another person, Ong Kian Ming (former Bangi MP) came up with a disrespectful statement criticising the DAP leadership for taking a stance on the issue (involving Pua)," he said.
If this was left unchecked, he said one by one of the troublemakers will emerge within the unity government, tarnishing the coalition's image in the eyes of the public and the world.
Merbok Umno division chief stressed that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and DAP should follow Umno's example, which did not hesitate to remove leaders or members deemed to be in disagreement.
"Umno takes bold action to expel Isham Jalil (former Umno supreme council member) who held a significant position for a similar offence committed by Hassan of PKR, who criticised the formation of the unity government.
"DAP also needs to have a strong stance against party members who still have allegiance and loyalty to the Lim Dynasty," he said.