Guan Eng says Umno blind to history, Constitution
By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng accused Umno leaders today of being “blind to history, the Constitution and in their hearts”, claiming that the ruling party promoted racial hatred and intolerance.
Citing several racially-charged incidents as examples, the Penang Chief Minister charged that Umno leaders had “hijacked” the Federal Constitution and used it at their whims and fancies for the purpose of dividing Malaysians.
“When Umno talks about the Constitution, they only talk about the special positions of the Malays and not about the legitimate interests of the other communities.
“This shows that Umno is blind to history, blind to the Constitution, and blind in their hearts. We must fight them,” he said at his opening address at the Perak DAP 15th congress this morning.
Lim pointed out that Article 153 of the Federal Constitution states, “It shall be the responsibility of the Yang di Pertuan Agong to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any states of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this article.”
“But Umno always cites Article 153 of the Constitution on the special position of the Malays as justification for their racist Malays-only approach.
“They invariably fail to mention the legitimate interests of other communities must also be protected,” he reiterated.
As such, Lim pointed out that the “Malaysian first” agenda was enshrined in the Constitution but this was unfortunately ignored by Umno’s “racist” leaders.
He claimed that this “racist mindset” of placing racial interests above national interests was what fuelled Defence Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi to claim that the low percentage of non-Malays in the military was due to the community’s lack of patriotism.
Lim also accused Umno-owned Malay daily Utusan Malaysia of attempting to recreate the bloody race clash on May 13, 1969, when it called the incident a “sacred day” and a “blessing in disguise”.
“The government must take action against Utusan as it spreads hatred and extremism, behaving as if they want another May 13 by celebrating it as a sacred day. I believe the Malays in our country are not like Utusan Malaysia. Utusan is only their Umno extremists.
