Utusan on AG's appointment: We're being critical, not racist

Utusan Malaysia has defended its reports regarding the controversy surrounding the appointment of the new attorney-general.

The Umno-owned daily said the articles were critical and not racist.

Senior news editor II Zulkiflee Bakar pointed out that the reports quoted personalities from various ethnic groups and religions.

"The reports cannot be equated to racism. Instead, the reports presented views from those who may not agree with the government (over its choice of constitutional expert Tommy Thomas for the post).

"Utusan's articles were in line with the government's freedom of expression agenda. When the (government) makes a decision, we will respect it," he wrote in an editorial today.

Zulkiflee was referring to a Bernama article which cited two former Utusan top editors criticising how the newspaper reported the issue.

The duo - Zainuddin Maidin and Johan Jaafar - accused Utusan of claiming, through its reports, that the Malays and Islam would be compromised if Thomas - a Christian - becomes the new attorney-general.

The pair also accused Utusan of stoking fear among Malays and Muslims instead of stressing that the main principle behind the appointment should be "integrity above all else".

However, they did not mention the specific articles to back their complaint.

Yesterday's edition of Utusan gave Thomas' appointment the full-page treatment. Of the numerous articles which were critical, only one, quoting UKM fellow Teo Kok Seong, touched on race and religion.

"To me, this is a clash between Islam and the Malaysian Malaysia ideology after Pakatan Harapan formed the government.

"We can see some people who are now questioning the decision of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to reject the advice of the prime minister," said Teo, adding this had led to undue criticism of the palace.

The same article also cited Unimap lecturer Ramlah Adam stating some groups were taking advantage of the situation to attack the royalty.

Meanwhile, Zulkiflee questioned why Utusan was singled out by Zainuddin and Johan but not the "online portals" which published racist material.

He said Utusan's raison d'etre was to speak on issues concerning Malays and Islam, while respecting the rights of others.

"Our struggle will continue because it is suitable in this new era of openness spearheaded by the government," he added. -Mkini