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Friday, May 20, 2022

PKR man sees irony in Saifuddin’s talk against race politics



PKR man sees irony in Saifuddin’s talk against race politics


Nik Nazmi Ahmad has reminded Saifuddin Abdullah that he left 
PKR to become a member of race-based Bersatu.


PETALING JAYA: PKR organising secretary Nik Nazmi Ahmad sees irony in Saifuddin Abdullah’s call for curbs on racial politics, noting that the foreign minister belongs to a race-based party.

He alleged that Saifuddin played into racial politics when he joined Bersatu after quitting PKR.


“He betrayed Pakatan Harapan and PKR and decided to become a member of Bersatu, which we all know is a race-based party,” Nik Nazmi said.

In 2018, then Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in defending the party’s race-based approach, said it was a “realistic” course since Malaysians were split along racial lines.


Nik Nazmi told FMT he nevertheless agreed that racial politics should be curbed.

Saifuddin spoke against racial politics and other manifestations of race consciousness in a formal speech he gave last Tuesday.

He urged the government to work towards curbing racial politics, which he said was the source of various social diseases.

He said hate speech and other shows of racism would cause animosity and could lead to violence.


He called for racial tolerance, inter-racial understanding and the embrace of cultural diversity, saying these should form the foundation for peaceful coexistence.

Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto said Saifuddin’s suggestion should be tabled in the Cabinet.

“I would like to hear the reaction of the other Cabinet members to the idea of eliminating racial politics as most of them opposed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination when PH was in power,” she told FMT.

She said Saifuddin should act on his words.

She asked whether Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was ready to dig deeper and weed out race-based policies, which she said had led to racial discrimination.

Klang MP Charles Santiago said this was a tall task as the system of governance in the country revolved around race and religion.

“The government must make a commitment, especially since we are approaching the elections,” he said.

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