Kit Siang: I don't expect to see a non-Malay PM in this century

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said he never had ambitions to become prime minister of the country - and he does not expect to see a non-Malay prime minister in this century.

Lim pointed to the example of the US, where it took some 230 years after the inception of the country for a black man, in form of Barack Obama (photo), to become the US president.

"I hope that Malaysia will not need 230 years before a non-Malay becomes prime minister, but I do not expect a non-Malay to become prime minister in the 21st century," he said in a statement today.

Lim said whether there will be a non-Malay prime minister beyond the year 2100 will depend on the politics of identity not continuing to be so "primordial" as it is today.

"But the political reality is that for the next hundred years, the prime minister will be a Malay and this will not stop the Umno strategists and propagandists from stepping up their campaign of lies and fear to hold the Malays to ransom by warning that Malays will perish if Umno is defeated in the 14th general election," he said.

On Thursday, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad took pains to defend the DAP against accusations that it was anti-Malay and he also dismissed rumours that Lim would become prime minister if Pakatan Harapan captured Putrajaya.

This was in response to accusations that Mahathir had betrayed the Malays by allying with the DAP.

Acknowledging this, Lim said he had been in politics for 52 years and the thought of becoming prime minister had never entered his mind.

"If I had never thought of becoming prime minister when I was in my twenties, thirties and forties, why should I be thinking of becoming the prime minister of Malaysia when I am in the seventies?

"I am also on public record as saying that although the Malaysian Constitution provides that any Malaysian can be a prime minister, I do not see any non-Malay becoming prime minister of Malaysia during my lifetime," he said.

Lim said involvement in politics was to ensure a better nation for our children and the children's children.

"Not (to) become a land of kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, but a successful, progressive and prosperous Malaysia for which all her citizens, regardless of race, religion, region or politics, can feel proud," he said.- Mkini