Works Minister S Samy Vellu has asked DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang to resign from his party post instead of asking him (Samy) to quit as minister.

Lim, he said, should have a good look at himself and his own party first before asking others to resign.

"Yes, I think Lim Kit Siang is right (to ask me to resign), but he should first resign as the chairman of DAP, because of his great failure in the last general election," Samy responded when asked by reporters on Lim's recent statement requesting him to quit.

"He is responsible, but he has no shame and remains as chairman of DAP. Because of him, the standing of the DAP has gone down so much in Parliament.

"I think he should be ashamed of himself and look after his party first before asking others to resign," he told reporters after delivering his address at the MIC general assembly in Shah Alam today.

Lim demanded Samy Vellu's resignation last week following his alleged threat to shelve repair works on the Middle Ring Road II (MRRII) if a graft probe is initiated against the project

No comment

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi refused to comment on whether Samy Vellu should resign from the cabinet to take responsibility for the MRR II flyover cracks in Kepong.

"I don't want to comment on that, Samy Vellu is a member of my cabinet," he said at a press conference after officiating the MIC assembly.

The government closed the 1.7km stretch between Taman Bukit Maluri and the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia interchanges at MRR2 on Aug 8 after detecting a series of cracks on the support beams. This has caused serious traffic congestion at the area.

Several quarters had questioned the cracks of the RM238 million flyover which should have lasted for 50 years. The government has estimated repairs to cost RM20 million.

The initial contact was awarded to BumiHiway (M) Sdn Bhd, Sukmin Sdn Bhd and Konsortium Kontraktor Melayu.