Name non-Malay PM, MCA Youth dares PKR
(The Malaysian Insider) – MCA Youth today dared PKR to name a non-Malay candidate for prime minister, turning the tables on the opposition party’s previous challenge for Umno to guarantee a Malay premier.
“The fact that PKR and DAP constantly portray themselves as so-called multi-racial parties is a joke, as it is evident that both parties are still very much operating based on race,” MCA Youth vice-chairman Yoo Wei How said in a statement today.
“This is obvious when PKR said that Anwar (Ibrahim) would be the prime minister and Lim Kit Siang as the deputy prime minister.”
He said by making race a consideration when choosing holders of top positions, the two parties were being racist.
PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin had dared Umno to amend the Federal Constitution to state that the prime minister must be Malay because “history shows Umno is willing to sell out everything.”
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, however, moved to clarify yesterday that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would not support any move by Umno to amend the Constitution to guarantee a Malay prime minister.
The PKR de facto leader explained that his party youth wing’s challenge Umno to do so was merely a part of PKR’s “strategy” and was neither a “Keadilan nor Pakatan Rakyat stand.”
Today, Yoo pointed out that the PKR national leadership consists mostly of Malays, while DAP sported a mainly Chinese line-up.
“If PKR and DAP are really indeed multi-racial political parties, why not announce PKR information chief Tian Chua as their candidate for prime minister with DAP national chairman Karpal Singh as the deputy prime minister?” Yoo asked.
“Therefore, it is a lie that these two parties are multi-racial as claimed and they are in fact deceiving the people simply in order to gain the votes so that they can take over the federal government,” he added.
Umno has repeatedly accused Pakatan Rakyat (PR) of selling out the Malays to Chinese and foreign interests, insisting that the country’s largest ethnic group can only be protected if Barisan Nasional (BN) remains in power.
