Sue us if selection of AG, CJ, unconstitutional - Muhyiddin tells Nazri

SEMENYIH POLLS

 | BN secretary-general Nazri Abdul Aziz can drag Pakatan Harapan to court if he feels that the appointment of non-Malays to top government posts is unconstitutional, Harapan deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin said.

"Nazri is a lawyer himself. If he says we have violated the Federal Constitution, he can drag us to court. Please drag us to court," Muhyiddin told a ceramah at Kampung Sungai Kembung Hilir in Semenyih last night.

"But I know, and he knows that (we) have not violated (the Constitution)," Muhyiddin said.

He was responding to Nazri, who at a ceramah last Saturday claimed that Harapan was weak and had surrendered the rights of the Malays to others. 

Nazri had cited the appointments of non-Malays as the chief justice, attorney-general and finance minister, as examples.

The police have since said that Nazri is being probed under the Sedition Act 1948.

Commenting on Lim Guan Eng's appointment as the finance minister, Muhyiddin said what should matter is the appointee's integrity and not race. 

The home minister further took a swipe at Lim's predecessor Najib Abdul Razak, who is also former prime minister. 

"Who was the finance minister before Guan Eng? It was Najib (photo below), (who uses the moniker) Bossku. 

"He is a Malay, but if he becomes the finance minister (again), he would 'sapu habis' (take everything). I think he has committed a crime against the Malay race," Muhyiddin added.

"The principal question is not about race, and this is not a racial issue. The question is about integrity. Anyone who is entrusted with these responsibilities should have integrity."

Muhyiddin, who is also the Harapan Election Committee chairperson, also stressed that Lim does not have absolute say in matters pertaining to the nation's finances and that any decision should be taken with the cabinet's approval. 

He further dismissed Nazri's claim that Harapan does not safeguard the rights of the Malay-Muslim community, stressing that all four component parties in the coalition have signed an agreement that the rights of all races and the Malay rulers, and that of Islam as the official religion, would be upheld. 

The ceramah was attended by about 350 people - most of whom were Harapan supporters clad in red T-shirts. 

Kampung Sungai Kembung Hilir sits in the Sungai Kembung polling district with 1,765 voters, where 99.54 percent of voters are Malay.

The Semenyih by-election is called following the demise of Harapan state assemblyperson Bakhtiar Mohd Nor.

The state constituency consists of 54,503 voters with 69.2 percent Malays, 16.8 percent Chinese and 13.3 percent Indians.  - Mkini