Pakatan continues to hound Najib over BTN
Utusan today urged the government not to “bow down” to the opposition on BTN and said that Nazri wanted the programme to be revamped even though the move was decided by the Cabinet.
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, The Malaysian Insider
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders say they want Datuk Seri Najib Razak to set the record straight by stating the government’s stand on the controversial National Civics Bureau (BTN).
Despite confirmation by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, on Monday that the Cabinet had agreed to revamp BTN courses and disclosure that the Chief Secretary had been instructed to oversee BTN’s overhaul, a number of ministers and Umno leaders have continued to defend the programme which has been described as racist by the opposition and some participants.
The prime minister’s silence on the issue has added to the confusion over his administration’s position.
BTN chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan also defended the civics course and insisted that it would be “upgraded” instead of “revamped.”
“The issue here is very clear. It is either Nazri or Ahmad Maslan who is wrong and now Najib is keeping quiet. He can’t keep quiet. As prime minister he must set an example as to whether he is prepared to stand by his 1 Malaysia context and slogan or it is just empty talk.
“His silence on the whole issue speaks very poorly on the seriousness and commitment on the 1 Malaysia concept,” the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang told The Malaysian Insider.
Seri Setia assemblyman, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad from PKR, also questioned the government’s sincerity on BTN and 1 Malaysia.
“Najib has been taking about 1 Malaysia and all this while we can see that its either a good cop or bad cop routine, or he does not know how to control his deputy because he has been saying the right things but his deputy has been talking the Malay line.
