Zahid: Let DAP deal with 'loose canon' Ramasamy

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi declined to speak at length about DAP leader P Ramasamy’s remarks calling for the “Malay’s monopoly” in the civil service to be broken.

Instead, the Umno president only described the Penang Deputy Chief Minister II as a “loose cannon” and left it to DAP to handle the controversy.

“We should not entertain (Ramasamy). Let his party leadership address the problem,” Zahid (above) told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Umno and DAP - once fierce rivals - are now in the federal government together following the 15th general election.

In the past, Zahid cultivated an image as a fierce defender of Malays and their privileges in the country.

For example, the Umno president called former attorney-general Tommy Thomas racist and prejudiced after the latter suggested that Pakatan Harapan should capitalise on the perception that the then Malay-dominated government had failed.

At that point in time, Umno was leading the federal government while Harapan - of which DAP is a component - was in the opposition.

On Friday, Ramasamy said on Facebook that the civil service is ossified and is in need of reforms.

He stressed that the old argument in favour of Malay domination of the civil service to counterbalance Chinese domination of the economy is no longer valid.

The Penang DAP deputy chairperson’s remarks has courted flak from both sides of the political divide, including calls from within Harapan for DAP to sack Ramasamy.

Following this, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke this morning advised party leaders against creating polemics in the country, saying that it is “counter-productive” and would bring them “nowhere”.

Loke also indicated that the party would deal with Ramasamy through “DAP’s own channels and approaches”. - Mkini