KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Supreme Council member and deputy minister Mohd Puad Zarkashi has come to the defence of Ibrahim Ali's movement Perkasa by stating that it was only defending what was enshrined in the federal constitution.
He said it was not fair to label the “nationalist movement” Pertubuhan Peribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) as a racist organisation merely because it defends the sovereignty of the constitution.
Puad, also the deputy education minister, said what was being championed by the organisation was not aimed at bringing down or stealing the rights of any group but to uphold what had already been enshrined in the constitution.
"Perkasa is not a racist (organisation)...there is no such word as racist in the Malay culture, racist only exists in the West because we had never carried out any 'ethnic cleansing'.
"When Perkasa defended the Malay supremacy, it is actually a question of pride of the race and progress of the race," he said in his speech when launching the 'Jaguh Care Educational and Welfare Fund', last night.
The setting up of the 'Kelab Jaguh' aims to give aid to the people of Pasir Mas, Kelantan who are residing outside the state, especially in terms of education and welfare.
Puad said there were also other non-governmental organisations fighting for their respective causes, but they were not labelled as racist by others.
Meanwhile at a media conference later, Puad said accusations hurled by certain quarters that Umno was a racist party and that it was one of the factors for the drop in the percentage of Chinese votes, was not right.
He said it happened because of racial issues raised by DAP.
"Perhaps because of the confusion, many Chinese voters opted for PKR," he added.
02/05/10
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