Kit Siang's statement on non-Malay PM can harm racial harmony, claims Takiyuddin

The Star:

Kit Siang's statement on non-Malay PM can harm racial harmony, claims Takiyuddin


Monday, 11 Dec 2023 5:20 PM MYT

PETALING JAYA: PAS claims that Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang's comment that a non-Malay can be prime minister is not only confusing but can also cause racial disharmony in the country.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan was commenting on the DAP veteran's talk to Malaysian students in Manchester, England, on Nov 29 and a follow-up statement in Gleneagles, Scotland on Dec 5.

"It is common knowledge that some DAP leaders have been raising this matter for decades, including the late Karpal Singh in 2012 and Lim himself previously in 2017.

"This time, by hiding behind the Federal Constitution, Rukun Negara and Vision 2020, Lim deliberately gives a wrong impression about Malays or the political scene by claiming that all the documents had aimed at the "Malaysian Dream", which is multi-ethnic, religious and cultural, rather than mono-ethnic.

"He also seems to take the opportunity to raise this matter when Umno, as a Malay party, is a member of the Madani government to cause the party to stay muted.

"According to Lim, his statement that a non-Malay can be prime minister is supported by the Constitution," he said.

He added that Lim did not see the convention practised since the country achieved independence.

"There has not been a non-Malay prime minister nor even one appointed as deputy prime minister.

He added that PAS found that Lim's narrative of a "Malaysian Dream" is not too different from the "Malaysian Malaysia" narrative preached by former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew before.

"Lim's speech to Malaysian students recently about the dream of mono-ethnicity and 'whether Malaysia can rise again to become a great country of the world or is Malaysia destined to be a divided, failed, and kleptocratic country' is no different from Lee's speech to Malaysian students in London in 1964.

"Lee, among others, said that: 'Malaysians survive or fail depending on whether we set out to create a Malaysian nation or a Malay nation with special rights reserved for Malays'," said Takiyuddin.

He said PAS urged any party still raising such matters to stop 'baiting' Malays and bumiputra to encure continued racial harmony.