KUALA LUMPUR: DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang yesterday reiterated the party’s commitment to uphold Malay rights as reflected in the joint statement by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition on Sept 8 that was made public and not through a ‘secret pact’ as suggested by some.
He said any imputation that he had been dishonest and opportunistic in signing on behalf of the DAP a “secret pact” to uphold Malay rights and status of Islam as the official religion was baseless, mischievous and unworthy of professional journalists.
“My position and that of the DAP on Articles 3 and 153 have never changed in the past 42 years since the formation of the party,’’ he told a press conference at the parliament lobby yesterday.
Lim was commenting on a blog report by The Star editor-in-chief Datuk Wong Chun Wai on Tuesday which said: “Anwar Ibrahim has revealed a signed document between himself, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and PAS’ Hadi Awang that none of us have heard until now — an agreement to uphold the rights enshrined in the federal constitution. The Sept 8 agreement pledged to uphold Malay rights and status of Islam as the official religion.”
He said Wong had insinuated that DAP had all along opposed the two constitutional provisions, and in a most opportunistic act of political expediency, suggested that Lim agreed with PR to a secret document that “none of us have heard until now”.
According to Lim, the Sept 8 joint statement signed by himself, Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa that among others touched on upholding Malay rights and commitment to Islam as the official religion, was issued to all media including The Star.
“I put the joint statement on my blog the same day,” Lim said.
He stressed that although Article 3 (1) stated that “Islam is the religion of the federation” and did not specifically use the term “official religion”, the DAP had always supported Islam as the official religion and the constitutional guarantee for freedom of worship for other religions.
He added DAP had not in a single instance opposed efforts to raise the economic standards of living of Malays, reiterating that the party supported measures that would help better the Malay poor.
On a separate note, Lim said he would want to challenge Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to a public debate to be telecast live on whether the crime situation in Malaysia was better or worse.
“I regret that instead of responding positively and responsibly to my criticisms about the worsening crime situation in the country, the home minister has launched a campaign to demonise me as an enemy of the police as illustrated by some Malay newspaper headlines today,” he said.
When met by reporters, Syed Hamid shot down the idea of a public debate as it would be seen as a step to gain political publicity, adding that Lim could speak to him personally on the crime situation if needed.
The Edge
20/11/08
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