Wanted: Document on 'Malay supremacy'

KUALA LUMPUR - PAS has demanded UMNO leaders to show the official document containing a declaration of their battlecry 'ketuanan Melayu' (Malay supremacy), as the concept was nowhere to be found in the Federal Constitution.

PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar said UMNO leaders should give "clear and detailed" explanation on the real meaning of the slogan, which they have been desperately defending.

“I sincerely urge UMNO leaders to define the meaning of 'ketuanan Melayu' because the concept is not found in the Federal Constitution and only coming out from UMNO.

"Reveal the document on Malay supremacy for the public's viewing,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Mahfuz said he hoped that UMNO leaders particularly Najib Razak could come up with the document before the end of parliamentary session on Thursday.

'Too very often'

Saying UMNO was trying to portray itself as "a champion of Malay issues", including the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), Mahfuz said the slogan 'ketuanan Melayu' was being invoked too often.

“They link it to the Malay supremacy slogan. Even in the Felda issue, they try to show that there are treachery and betrayal involved (in revealing the mismanagement in Felda),” he added.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders had earlier come under attack from UMNO politicians following a speech by PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail during the party's annual congress last month, in which she urged Malays to become a "dignified race" rather than fighting for "Malay supremacy".

Her remark drew angry comments from UMNO and Perkasa leaders, with the latter even branding Azizah a "political whore", and another indulging in curses of her husband Anwar Ibrahim.

Other UMNO leaders claimed the phrase “Malay supremacy” was coined to protect the Malay Rulers, and accused PKR of rejecting the Malay Rulers' institution.

Mahfuz pointed out that even historian Dr Khoo Kay Kim had concurred that the concept was not part of the Constitution.

Referring to suggestions that those who questioned 'Malay supremacy' had betrayed the Malay rulers, Khoo said the Constitution had merely called for loyalty to the Malay rulers. - Harakahdaily

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