Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali said Nazri’s statement was unsurprising and that he was not “bothered at all” with the latter’s words.
“Nazri (picture) speaks as an individual but Perkasa is an organisation with thousands of members now. So I hope he feels great with his statement and I am not bothered at all.
“I feel great too,” he told The Malaysian Insider via SMS this afternoon.
The Pasir MAS MP said that Nazri, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, had an axe to grind with Dr Mahathir and merely wanted to please all those who opposed Perkasa’s struggles.
“He might have problems with Tun since Tun is a great leader and world renowned. So he must feel proud and great when he can attack Tun,” said Ibrahim.
Perkasa Youth chief Arman Azha Abu Hanifah agreed with his leader, saying that if Nazri’s “boss”, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, could accept Perkasa’s struggles, he should follow suit.
He said Najib had shown support when he accepted five of the 32 proposals made by Perkasa to be included in the 10th Malaysia Plan.
“If his boss can accept us, why can’t he?” said Arman Azha.
He added that the five proposals included strengthening the economic status of the Bumiputeras and protecting the welfare of the Bumiputeras in education.
“Furthermore, Nazri claimed that Perkasa is strong because of Mahathir but this is wrong because even before Mahathir supported us, we were already around.
“He is just supporting us because he saw that we are a non-governmental organisation that has been very consistent in fighting for the rights of the Bumiputeras,” he said.
Arman Azha added that Perkasa would always be relevant with or without Dr Mahathir so long as it continued to champion the rights of the Bumiputeras.
“As long as we are consistent, if we keep protecting the rights of the Bumiputera which are enshrined in the Constitution, we will be relevant.
“Also, it is not true that we are against Najib — we have always supported him and we are merely bringing to him the voice of the grassroots. Sometimes as a leader, you are not aware of the people’s voices.
“Nazri is just trying to stand out,” he said.
Gertak, or Gerakan Kebangkitan Rakyat (People’s Awareness Movement), chief Razali Idris accused Nazri of being an opportunist who would side with whomever was in power.
“He is a three-era man. He was there during Tun’s time. He was there during Pak Lah (Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi). He is here now during Najib.
“He just wants to be their strongest soldier, their general, so he will defend them to the end. His style is to try and make sure that he stands out so that people will say ‘wow, he is a great leader’,” said Razali.
He claimed Nazri was clueless over the true purpose of Gertak, which was why he claimed that the movement would die if Dr Mahathir stopped supporting it.
“Firstly, we are not about Tun. We invited him to speak for us because he is the one true leader who has been there through the tough years in the past.
“He was there during Merdeka, he was there during the May 13 riots. He knows our history first-hand whereas Nazri only read from history books,” he said.
Razali pointed out that unlike Perkasa, Gertak was not an organisation but a movement to remind the Malays that they should not be complacent.
“We do not want the Malays to have this complacency, to sit back and think they do not need to work hard because they would always get opportunities from the government.
“This is why we called our rally ‘Melayu Bangkit’. We want the Malays to rise and be aware,” he said.
Razali said that Nazri should not simply “spew out” comments and criticisms against movements like Gertak if he did not have the right information on what its struggles were about.
“I challenge him now — can he sit down and unite all the Malay NGOs in the country? Can he get them together and sit on one table and share one motive?” he said.
He added that as the Marang Umno division deputy chief, he was very much still an “Umno man” but was able to sit together with political leaders from across the divide for the purpose of championing Gertak’s cause.
“I can sit and talk with DAP leaders, PAS leaders, PKR leaders. Can Nazri do this? Can he?” he asked.
Razali said Gertak’s “Melayu Bangkit” rally in Kuala Terengganu on June 14 had attracted not only Malays but those of other races as well.
“We invited Mahathir because he was the one political icon who could speak on the history of Malaysia and the position of the Malays,” he said.
He noted that the rally had only attracted 2,000 people although the target was 5,000 people but claimed that those who turned out had done so voluntarily.
“We saw not only the Malays but the Chinese and the Indians too. I heard some even cried during Mahathir’s speech. So Nazri does not know what we are about and he is wrong to say we will be irrelevant without Mahathir,” he said.
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