Malay special rights must be respected, says Dr Chua
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, The Malaysian Insider
MALACCA, May 1 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has stressed that Malay special rights is protected under the federal constitution, explaining today his offer to vote for PKR was to expose Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) deception.
The MCA president said the statement in a YouTube clip posted by his party was taken out of context as it was a response to a question during a meeting with his Facebook fans.
“There was this young man that said MCA was not pushing hard enough to ensure equality and abolishment of Malays special rights.
“I said very simply that the Malay special rights is entrenched in the constitution under article 153 and in order to remove that you require two-thirds and you also need the ruler’s council approval even if you get approved in parliament,” he said today.
In the clip, Dr Chua said, “If PKR dares to amend the constitution and cancel Malay privileges, I will be the first to raise my hands to vote for PKR,”
He added the public has been misled by PR’s promise of false hope.
“I said that they have been misled and the opposition only gives hope that as if they are pushing for abolishment of Malay special rights because you can see the DAP everyday is talking about equality among the races. I said that if they dare to do it then we will also be supporting them.
“Because they are not doing it but they are just spinning it and bluffing the rakyat and rising the hope and expectation of the Chinese community towards MCA and Barisan Nasional. It is a false hope,” he said.
MCA has been under heavy scrutiny following the April 16 Sarawak election where BN lost nearly all Chinese-majority seats to PR.
The result echoed the loss of Chinese votes in the March 2008 general election, where MCA won just 15 seats in Parliament — fewer than half the 31 MPs it had before.
