PUTRAJAYA, Aug 29 – Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak today told deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waythamoorthy to toe the line as the Hindraf activist was part of the government now.
Najib said that being a member of the government, Waythamoorthy should adhere to the official line as ministers and deputy ministers must speak with “one voice” to reflect the government’s united front.
“As a member of the government, you must toe the line, you must have one voice,” he said at a press conference in his office in Putrajaya.
Najib’s rebuke follows calls by three cabinet ministers — Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin – for Waythamoorthy to quit his deputy minister’s post over his criticism against the police in handling gangsterism.
The three ministers has asked Waythamoorthy to decide if he wanted to remain as deputy minister or continue being an activist of a non-governmental organisation.
Waythamoorthy had questioned the police shooting of five gang members in Penang two weeks ago following complaints from family members of the five that they were shot by the police while asleep in the wee hours of the morning in their rented apartment.
They also said the police could have arrested the five instead of sending a hit squad to kill the five. The police have said that the five were armed evident from firearms found at the apartment they were staying.
Waythamoorthy had joined Najib’s government following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between his Hindraf and Barisan Nasional before the GE in which the ruling coalition had agreed to look into demands made to uplift the Indian community.
After the GE, Waythamoorthy was made a senator and appointed as a deputy minister with the task to look after the Indian affairs.
– FREE MALAYSIA TODAY
