Stop making provocative statements, Umno Youth tells DAP leaders

 

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh said remarks made by DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and Tan Kok Wai were unnecessary and could trigger disharmony.

PETALING JAYA: Umno Youth has urged DAP leaders to “be more sensitive” and stop making provocative statements, taking aim at veterans Lim Kit Siang and Tan Kok Wai.

Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh said Lim’s remarks on whether a non-Malay can become the prime minister, and Tan’s call for local elections in Kuala Lumpur were unnecessary and could trigger disharmony among Malaysians.

“In fact, I believe some within the unity government are uncomfortable (with these statements),” he said in a Facebook post today.

“It’s akin to intentional provocation against the status quo of the understanding we have achieved between the races.

“Only 45.9% of residents in the city centre are Bumiputera, based on the census. If local elections were to be held, an imbalance would occur and we can already expect what the results would be.”

Akmal, a Melaka executive councillor, said Malaysia has been governed by consensus in the past six decades, with the support and agreement of “the majority”. He said such statements by the DAP leaders seemed to carry a hidden message.

“The DAP leadership should be more sensitive and respectful of our harmony, instead of raising feelings of unease and pessimism among the community and between the races.

“Being in the same government doesn’t mean agreeing with everything because this is not a DAP government, but was established with Umno. Umno Youth will not compromise with any decision that involves the interests of Islam, the Malays and the Malay rulers,” he said.

Lim’s remarks, during a talk to students in the UK, have led to Bukit Aman opening an investigation, as well as a call for the Federal Constitution to be amended to restrict the prime minister post to Malays.

The proposal by Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal was later crticised by various quarters, while Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also dismissed the suggestion.

Tan made the proposal for local elections in Kuala Lumpur during the state chapter’s convention yesterday. The Cheras MP and Kuala Lumpur DAP chief said reintroducing local elections in the city would provide sustainability and give the residents the right to select their city council representatives.

Local elections in Malaysia were suspended in the 1960s and later replaced by a system of appointed heads, where state mayors of city councils and presidents of municipal and district councils are appointed by the state governments.

Local government development minister Nga Kor Ming previously said the unity government did not plan to introduce local council polls for now. - FMT