KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — The DAP has described Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s apparent reversal of his previous stand on Perkasa as a confirmation of Umno’s silent backing of the Malay group.
The Umno secretary-general has denied that his Barisan Nasional (BN) colleagues agreed to distance the ruling coalition from Perkasa shortly after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on Friday that the party did not want to stir conflict with any non-governmental organisation (NGO), despite the recent move by its leaders, including himself, to rebuff the Malay rights group.
“This only proves Umno has all along been behind Perkasa,” said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in a statement today.
“Umno’s submission to Perkasa and Utusan Malaysia open support shows the strength of the Perkasa mentality within BN and that 1Malaysia is an empty slogan to win votes,” he added.
Earlier, Tengku Adnan reportedly said his BN counterparts had agreed that distancing the ruling coalition from Perkasa was the best way forward to halt the erosion of non-Malay support for BN.
He had also told them that Umno would not back the strident Malay rights group or Ibrahim in the next general election.
Tengku Adnan however denied stating that BN had to distance itself from Perkasa. He pointed out that he merely said the Malay group has tried to undermine the coalition’s chances in the next general election by sabotaging the racial harmony between BN component parties.
The DAP also accused BN component parties like MCA of putting on a show by rejecting Perkasa in public but giving internal support to Umno’s sanctioning of the group.
“Clearly all the BN component parties like MCA are just playing a big “sandiwara” opposing Perkasa outside when inside meetings, they keep silent and submissively support Umno’s pro-Perkasa position,” said Lim.
Tengku Adnan said today that BN secretaries-general did not make a single mention of distancing the ruling coalition from anybody in their meeting.
The opposition has accused Umno of using Perkasa to restore Malay votes that were feared to be lost among conservatives who felt that Najib was pandering to the non-Malay communities.
Perkasa, however, has repeatedly denied having ties with the ruling party.
Lim claimed that the Perkasa mentality within BN allowed those who were accused of making racial slurs to go unpunished.
“Perkasa mentality in BN is dangerous as it has led to public and open denigration of Malaysians from minority groups. This Perkasa mentality has resulted in those making racist remarks escape unpunished,” said Lim.
The Bagan MP cited the incident where two school principals in Kulai and Kedah were accused of making racist remarks against the Chinese and Indian communities last month but have yet to face action from the authorities.
The Prime Minister’s former aide Datuk Nasir Safar was similarly not punished but merely resigned for allegedly saying in February this year that “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially women came to sell their bodies”.
“Is the reason why no action has been taken against these racist and extremist statements because of Perkasa’s open support and demonstrations of the right of Nasir and the school principals to make such racist and extremist statements?” asked Lim.
Perkasa has declared its support for the allegedly racist Kulai school principal Siti Inshah Mansor and urged the government to retain her position.
“Malaysians must stand up and unite against the racism and extremism as embodied not only by Perkasa but those that support Perkasa such as Umno and BN,” said Lim.
Malaysian Insider
19/09/10
The Umno secretary-general has denied that his Barisan Nasional (BN) colleagues agreed to distance the ruling coalition from Perkasa shortly after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on Friday that the party did not want to stir conflict with any non-governmental organisation (NGO), despite the recent move by its leaders, including himself, to rebuff the Malay rights group.
“This only proves Umno has all along been behind Perkasa,” said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in a statement today.
“Umno’s submission to Perkasa and Utusan Malaysia open support shows the strength of the Perkasa mentality within BN and that 1Malaysia is an empty slogan to win votes,” he added.
Earlier, Tengku Adnan reportedly said his BN counterparts had agreed that distancing the ruling coalition from Perkasa was the best way forward to halt the erosion of non-Malay support for BN.
He had also told them that Umno would not back the strident Malay rights group or Ibrahim in the next general election.
Tengku Adnan however denied stating that BN had to distance itself from Perkasa. He pointed out that he merely said the Malay group has tried to undermine the coalition’s chances in the next general election by sabotaging the racial harmony between BN component parties.
The DAP also accused BN component parties like MCA of putting on a show by rejecting Perkasa in public but giving internal support to Umno’s sanctioning of the group.
“Clearly all the BN component parties like MCA are just playing a big “sandiwara” opposing Perkasa outside when inside meetings, they keep silent and submissively support Umno’s pro-Perkasa position,” said Lim.
Tengku Adnan said today that BN secretaries-general did not make a single mention of distancing the ruling coalition from anybody in their meeting.
The opposition has accused Umno of using Perkasa to restore Malay votes that were feared to be lost among conservatives who felt that Najib was pandering to the non-Malay communities.
Perkasa, however, has repeatedly denied having ties with the ruling party.
Lim claimed that the Perkasa mentality within BN allowed those who were accused of making racial slurs to go unpunished.
“Perkasa mentality in BN is dangerous as it has led to public and open denigration of Malaysians from minority groups. This Perkasa mentality has resulted in those making racist remarks escape unpunished,” said Lim.
The Bagan MP cited the incident where two school principals in Kulai and Kedah were accused of making racist remarks against the Chinese and Indian communities last month but have yet to face action from the authorities.
The Prime Minister’s former aide Datuk Nasir Safar was similarly not punished but merely resigned for allegedly saying in February this year that “Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially women came to sell their bodies”.
“Is the reason why no action has been taken against these racist and extremist statements because of Perkasa’s open support and demonstrations of the right of Nasir and the school principals to make such racist and extremist statements?” asked Lim.
Perkasa has declared its support for the allegedly racist Kulai school principal Siti Inshah Mansor and urged the government to retain her position.
“Malaysians must stand up and unite against the racism and extremism as embodied not only by Perkasa but those that support Perkasa such as Umno and BN,” said Lim.
Malaysian Insider
19/09/10
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