Race-based parties to stay, says Dr M

(The Star) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad feels that Malaysia will continue to have race-based parties unless the people can think of themselves exclusively as Malaysians.

The former prime minister said the reality of the situation was that the people were still conscious and felt strongly about their race.

As such, he said, the Government would have to listen to their views if it wanted to win elections and continue to rule the country.

“Whether we like it or not, if Umno is no longer a race-based party, the likelihood is that PAS will take over the Government,” he said in reply to a question after giving a talk on “Malaysia at the Crossroads” at Cambridge University on Wednesday.

Dr Mahathir said, however, there would be less fear of a certain race being sidelined if the Government could eliminate the differences in economic wealth.

He said Malaysia was fortunate in that respect compared with countries like Rwanda and Burundi where there were mass tribal killings.

He said the Barisan would face an uphill task in winning the Bukit Gantang parliamentary and Bukit Selambau state by-elections.