KENYATAAN AKHBAR

SDR TIEN CHUA

28.06.2000

28 June 2000

Press statement

It regrettable that a certain letter written by Marina Yusoff was exploited to create confusion among the public, and especially supporters of Parti KeADILan Nasional. The said letter was dated January 13, 2000. As Hajjah Marina clearly pointed out, the letter was never sent out, neither to any party leaders nor to Dr. Chandra himself. Since the party leadership never officially received the letter, those issues mentioned in the letter were never discussed in any of the party meetings. There were also no opportunity for anybody to clarify the perceptions carried by the letter. As far as the Party is concerned, these opinions may represent the writer's personal view on the problems in the Party.

Hajjah Marina Yusoff served the Party as the founding Vice President. Her vast experience in politics has contributed to lay the foundation of the party in the formative stage as well as during the General Election last year. Although she has relinquished the Vice President post due to health and financial reasons, she is still widely respected and supported in the Party. Until now, party cadres of all levels still frequently consult her advice on important matters. Hajjah Marina has unequivocally stated her support for the Party and our struggle for Refoamsi despite her inability to be active in the Party.

The private letter drafted by Hajjah Marina was released in a highly suspicious and unusual manner. Several conversations between Hajjah Marina and me confirmed that the private letter was not released by Hajjah Marina herself nor the intended recipient the letter. The context of the issues raised in the letter was quite unconnected with the current situation now. The motive of releasing such letter aims at nothing but to create rift between Hajjah Marina and the Party. I suspect it is part of a large scheme to undermine Hajjah Marina's credibility and her support within the Party. I hope members and supporters of KeADILan would not fall into such trap.

KeADILan is an open and transparent democratic forum. The leadership continues to value and respect criticisms, advises and inputs from all quarters of society. Among party members there have always been frank and critical discussions on party policies and direction. It is the party's philosophy that no leader is infallible, and people are free to express their views or make their own judgement. However we also maintain that all shortcomings of the Party is the collective responsibility of the entire leadership not on any individual. We believe the strength of the party lies not just with the leaders but the power of the people's movement. With the strong adherence to democratic principles, I believe that the Party will overcome all weaknesses and move ahead. If the repressive regime hope to destroy the Party by creating perceptions that KeADILan is facing internal squabbles, it must be in the state of hallucination.

In the coming weeks, KeADILan and our Reformasi supporters will continue to highlight the crisis and mismanagement of the country by the Barisan Nasional government. The revelation of Dato Shafie, the case of Chief Justice Eusoff Chin, and so on, clearly show that the integrity of our justice system is now facing a serious credibility problem. KeADILan will lead a series of vigorous campaigns to mobilize the masses around these important issues. Nothing will sway the Party and our Reformasi activists away from our struggle for change.

Tian Chua

Vice President