MCA, which is likely to put forth a candidate for the March 23 Kajang by-election, has continued to hit out at PKR's candidate Anwar Ibrahim by dipping deep into his past as an Umno minister.

If MCA president Liow Tiong Lai (right) last Friday fingered Anwar for the Ops Lalang Internal Security Act 1987 dragnet, this time Anwar is questioned for policy decisions when education minister.

In a two-for-one attack, Penang MCA also slammed DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng for backing Anwar, despite the latter’s alleged prior misdeeds against the Chinese community.

“Need I remind Lim that it was Anwar, who was the education minister at the time, who had insisted on deploying non-Mandarin speaking teachers to Chinese primary schools for senior positions?” Penang MCA Youth chief Michael Lee claimed in a statement.

He added that Lim had also conveniently forgotten that his father, DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang had also “constantly criticised Anwar in the past”.

“Thus, Lim should not bury his conscience and hastily seek to defend Anwar simply so that Anwar can become the menteri besar of Selangor,” he said.

He was echoed by Selangor MCA secretary Ng Chok Sin who said that Anwar had acted to “crush” Chinese education when he was education minister.

“Anwar’s refusal to withdraw the appointments (of non-Mandarin speaking teachers) despite widespread condemnation by politicians, NGOs, social-activists and academicians was to crush the development of the Chinese education and public opinion,” he in turn claimed.

He added that the Kit Siang's decision to now attack Liow is actually “selective amnesia” by “whitewashing” Anwar's role in Kit Siang's very own detention under Ops Lalang.

“Rather than slam MCA with baseless politicking, the duo should admit Anwar’s actions were plain wrong,” he said, referring to the father-son team.

'DAP subservient'

When asked on the Ops Lalang allegations yesterday, Anwar said that MCA is neglecting to point out that home minister and prime minister at the time of Ops Lalang was Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said that the reason they are singling him out, and not mentioning Mahathir (below), is that MCA is afraid of Umno.

Anwar became education minister in 1986 and was appointed deputy prime minister in 1993.

He was sacked in 1998, convicted with sodomy and corruption, and released in 2004 after his sodomy conviction was overturned.

In a separate statement, MCA's publicity bureau chief Marco Yap accused DAP of being subservient to PKR in the Kajang by-election.

“Kit Siang dares not admit DAP was kept out of the loop in this unilateral decision and tactic by PKR.

“Hence, Kit Siang’s assertions that all Pakatan (component prties) share equal footing in their coalition and that all decisions made are based on consensus have been rebuffed by PKR’s so-called ‘Kajang Move’,” he said.

He added that the move is widely seen to topple Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and Kit Siang's silence on this means tacit consent.