SHAH ALAM, March 18 — The Selangor ruler has decided not to attend the first annual general meeting (AGM) of Perkasa on March 27 in what is a major snub for the right-wing Malay group.
However, Pasir Mas MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who leads Perkasa, in a press conference outside Parliament this afternoon confirmed that the AGM will carry on.
Ibrahim, who was accompanied by Perkasa deputy secretary-general Daud Ibrahim, said that the Perkasa AGM will take place as planned this March 27 at the Dewan Tun Razak 2, Putra World Trade Centre.
“The Perkasa AGM will go on as planned on March 27... 10,000 members so far have been confirmed. There may be more, as observes and more people want to attend,” said Ibrahim.
The Perkasa head stated that this proved that there was a “sign of a rise of unity among Malays.”
“His Honourable Sultan of Selangor has cancelled his [attendance at] the AGM for reasons... I have been informed that the office of Sultan Selangor will be issuing a statement today, I have no comment on the statement.”
But Ibrahim then revealed that he was in the process of taking legal action against the Sun newspaper for a news report that had been published a day ago about the Sultan of Selangor not attending the AGM.
“I have hired a lawyer to take legal action against the Sun. They released news a day ago and I do not know where they got the news from. The Sun is malicious, they have a hidden agenda,” said the Pasir Mas MP.
According to him, the report had claimed that the Sultan of Selangor had “advised” Ibrahim to tone down on his “ultra-malay” stance, something with the Perkasa president maintains never happened.
“The Sultan of Selangor had never instructed me to tone down my supposedly ultra-Malay stance. I am not ultra-Malay or a chauvinist.”
“In fact the Sultan said he appreciated my efforts in championing the rights of the Malay community.”
He said before his lawyers began the legal process, he expected an apology from the Sun to “his utmost satisfaction.”
“I would like to remind other newspapers to not sensationalize news, or bear the consequences. I am not racist. I am a nationalist, patriotic, and a good Muslim. I support the laws of the Federal Constitution,” said Ibrahim.
He said that Perkasa’s mission was still clear and remained strong to this day.
“We will continue to defend current issues concerning the rights of Malays and Bumiputras, and also Article 153 of the Constitution,” said Ibrahim.
Perkasa, which originally began as a one man mission, has managed to garner support from many states in Peninsular, with claims of membership running into the thousands.
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