By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s repeated emphasis on Malay-Muslim unity is proof that he is the primary hazard to the prime minister’s 1 Malaysia policy, Lim Kit Siang has said.
The DAP parliamentary leader was referring to the deputy prime minister’s remarks yesterday, when he was reported to have said the future of the nation depended on the unity of the Malays and Muslims, who formed the majority.
Muhyiddin had said if Muslims were split due to political differences or other fundamental issues related to religion, then it would be difficult to achieve peace and unity for the nation as a whole.
“Muhyiddin is wrong, as forming a greater majority than Malays and Muslims in the country are Malaysians regardless of religious faiths.
“Muhyiddin has confirmed that the greatest threat to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s signature 1 Malaysia policy is his ‘Malay first, Malaysian second’ deputy prime minister,” Lim said in a statement today.
The federal lawmaker said Muhyiddin’s stand gone consistently against Najib’s flagship campaign, and pointed out that 1 Malaysia meant a nation where “every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second.”
Lim reiterated that Muhyiddin has expressively stated that he was a “Malay first and then only a Malaysian.”
“It is clear that after 39 months as Najib’s deputy prime minister, Muhyiddin has not become more 1 Malaysia-minded but, instead, has remained as racist as ever as when he declared in his response to my challenge on April 1, 2010 that he was ‘a Malay first and then only a Malaysian’.”
During an exchange with Lim in Parliament then, Muhyiddin said: “How can I say I’m Malaysian first and Malay second? All the Malays will shun me and say that it is not proper.”
“If Muhyiddin still maintains that it is wrong for a Malay leader to declare that he is ‘Malaysian first and Malay second’, is he going to take the next logical step and propose in Cabinet and the Barisan Nasional supreme council to scrap the 1 Malaysia Policy as a total failure after three years?
“When is Najib going to be frank with Malaysians — that his signature 1 Malaysia Policy is just an empty slogan without serious purpose or meaning whatsoever?” said the Ipoh Timor MP.