KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6- Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa (PERKASA), the Malay right-wing group, today voiced opposition to a proposal to allow the return to the country of former secretary-general of the outlawed Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) Chin Peng, saying it would hurt the people.
PERKASA vice-president Datuk Zulkifli Noordin said the cruelty of Chin Peng and the communist terrorists which caused the people to suffer and thousands to die could not be forgotten.
“We feel Chin Peng’s hands are soiled with the blood of Malaysians, not only the Malays but also the Chinese, Indians and others.
“Many will be hurt if we bring Chin Peng back or allow him to return,” he told a news conference.
DAP chairman Karpal Singh Thursday called on the government to allow Chin Peng and other former members of the CPM to return to the country, saying the next-of-kin of the Malaysians killed during the communist insurgency would have a re-look at the position and the time had come to forgive.
Karpal Singh made the call after former Special Branch deputy director Tan Sri Yuen Yuet Leng urged the government to allow Chin Peng and other former CPM members to return to the country.
Zulkifli said if Chin Peng was brought back to Malaysia, the former CPM leader would have to be tried for his past offences.
Also present at the news conference was PERKASA president Datuk Ibrahim Ali.
Ibrahim spoke on the recent increase in the prices of petrol and diesel and said the government should consider deducting the salaries of senior government officers by between five and 10 per cent if it wanted to reduce the national expenditure.
“In fact, the salary deduction should be carried out simultaneously with the reduction in the subsidy for RON95 petrol and diesel by 20 sen,” he said, adding that the people would then feel that the government had acted right and could accept the price increase.
Ibrahim also said that the government should reduce expenditure on unimportant activities which involved high cost.
-BERNAMA
