He said there were internal problems in the DAP, with many members being unable to voice their grievances about Lim continuing to lead the party after 51 years.
“I believe many DAP leaders who do not dare to speak about this outside will be thankful to me and my colleagues in the BN for saying it is time for Lim Kit Siang to retire,” he said.
He claimed DAP members at the grassroots level wanted a shift of power to a leader who was more progressive and moderate compared with the “extreme view” Lim had shown .
“It is good not only for the DAP, but also for the nation if leaders change to allow new ideas to be brought in,” the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department told reporters after officiating at the annual Chartered Financial Analysts Summit at the INTEKMA Resort and Convention Centre here.
Rahman said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself had urged Lim to step down when he retired in 2003. Mahathir is now chairman of the opposition Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, an ally of the DAP.
Lim, who is Gelang Patah MP, had earlier this morning announced that the constituency would be his “first choice” if he was chosen to run in the upcoming 14th general election.
Lim, who is on a nationwide tour to promote the DAP’s ‘Save and Reset Malaysia’ campaign, said this after being mocked in posters and banners put up around Gelang Patah for going “missing” from the constituency.
Lim, 76, also said: “I have been struggling with the question whether I should call it a day as I have been in Malaysian politics for 51 years, since the formation of DAP in 1966.”
Rahman defended Umno information chief Annuar Musa for starting a contest with a prize of RM50,000, raised from the initial RM10,000, for the best essay or social media posting on the subject “LKS is a racist, anti-Islam and a dictator for 51 years, is it true?”
He said this was Annuar’s way of exposing to the public Lim’s character, which Rahman claimed was “racist and anti-Islamic”.