Umno have been perpetuated to benefit an elite few in Umno and to impoverish the rest of the citizenry

Nurul Izzah's reply to Najib's Malay rights speech at Umno meet

Nurul - Lembah Pantai MP and daughter of Anwar Ibrahim

Nurul Izzah Anwar

The Prime Minister, who is also the Umno president, made several statements during the 2010 Umno assembly today.

The most important is the admission that Malay rights are so tightly locked with a golden key in the Constitution that even if any party possesses two-thirds majority in Parliament, it will still not be able to alter Malay rights without the permission of the Rulers' Council.


All the more, it becomes the responsibility of Pakatan Rakyat to hold this golden key so that we can open new spaces for the good of all citizens and to democratize our multiracial country.

This key must also open the door to a new political contract where anti-democratic laws such as ISA, AUKU, PPA and so forth must be repealed immediately. Such a key means that these anti-democratic laws are no longer necessary since Malay rights are already enshrined and therefore do not need to be protected by such laws, which exist not to protect but to chain the people to Umno for its selfish interests.

This key also exposes the falsehood of Umno politics which have claimed that Umno is Malay and Malay is Umno but this is not true because the key actually lies in the hands of the Malay Rulers, who in fact are the Rulers of all Malaysian citizens.

The lies of Umno have been perpetuated to benefit an elite few in Umno and to impoverish the rest of the citizenry and this is borne out by the Umno Youth Chief himself, who acknowledges that after 53 years of Independence, 60 percent of rural Malays are still poverty-stricken.

Yet the Umno president has urged his party to defend Putrajaya, but actually what is imperative is for the citizenry to free Putrajaya from Umno.

Enough is enough because the time has come for all Rulers and citizens to regain custody of this special key and not leave it with Umno, which has become a liar and hypocrite in its false fight for the race. - (English translation by Malaysia Chronicle. The original text in Malay is appended below)

Kunci pembuka fitnah politik Umno — Nurul Izzah Anwar

Perdana Menteri yang juga Presiden Umno telah membuat beberapa kenyataan sempena Perhimpunan Agong Umno 2010 hari ini.

Kenyataan beliau yang paling penting pada hemat saya adalah pengakuan bahawa hak Melayu sudah “terkunci kemas” di dalam Perlembagaan sehingga seandainya mana-mana pihak mempunyai majoriti dua pertiga dalam Parlimen pun tidak mampu mengubah hak Melayu tanpa kebenaran Majlis Raja-Raja.

Oleh itu adalah menjadi tanggungjawab Pakatan Rakyat pula memegang kunci tersebut untuk membuka ruang-ruang baru yang akan mensejahterakan semua rakyat dan mendemokrasikan negara yang berbilang kaum ini.

Kunci ini juga mesti membuka kontrak politik baru dimana undang-undang anti-demokratik seperti ISA, AUKU, PPPA dan sebagainya mestilah dihapuskan segera. Kunci ini juga menentukan bahawa undang-undang anti-demokratik ini tidak lagi diperlukan kerana hak Melayu telah dikunci kemas melainkan undang-undang anti-demokratik bukan sahaja untuk mengunci tetapi merantai rakyat untuk kepentingan Umno sahaja.

Kunci ini juga mendedahkan fitnah politik Umno yang mengatakan bahawa Umno itu Melayu dan Melayu itu Umno tidak benar sama sekali kerana kunci ini terletak di tangan Raja-Raja Melayu yang sebenarnya adalah Raja-Raja semua rakyat Malaysia.

Fitnah politik Umno ini hanya digunakan untuk menguntungkan golongan Umno yang kecil dan memiskinkan rakyat jelata yang ramai seperti yang didedahkan oleh Ketua Pemuda Umno sendiri dimana setelah 53 tahun Merdeka, 60 peratus orang Melayu luar bandar masih dilanda kemiskinan.

Dengan itu saranan Presiden Umno untuk terus mempertahankan Putrajaya sebaliknya menjadi panggilan keramat untuk rakyat membebaskan Putrajaya daripada Umno.

Sudahlah dan cukuplah kerana tiba masanya semua Raja and rakyat memegang kunci ini dan bukan Umno, yang menjadi pemfitnah dan hipokrit perjuangan bangsa.
(Nurul Izzah Anwar is the MP for Lembah Pantai)

21/10/10