National reconciliation up to Pakatan
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak refuses to guarantee an end to racial and political discrimination unless Pakaran accepts GE results.
Anisah Shukry, FMT
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak today refused to give an assurance that the government would stop harping on Chinese racial issues nor end discrimination against opposition MPs in the name of ‘national reconciliation’.
Instead, he sidestepped the issue entirely when questioned repeatedly by Pakatan Rakyat MPs on the matter, stressing the onus was on the opposition pact to accept the 13th general election results first, as that was the “main premise” of national reconciliation.
“The foundation of national reconciliation is for all to accept the results of the 13th general election. If the opposition continues with their rallies, this means they do not accept the polls results,” Najib told the parliament during the oral question-and-answer session.
“That’s why I said, accept the general election results and work together to form the government. If you want to reproach us (for our actions), we, too, can reproach you.
“As long as [you reject the results], national reconciliation can never happen. Accepting the general election results is the core of national reconciliation,” stressed Najib.
The Umno president said this after several opposition MPs pointed out in parliament that the BN-lead government and Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia has “punished” the Chinese in the wake of the May 5 polls, and this was contrary to his call for national reconciliation.
“Six weeks after the 13th general election, we only saw national retaliation such as the closure of Jonker Street to punish voters who did no support BN,” said DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang.
“After you mentioned the Chinese tsunami, there has been indications that the government is undertaking race-baiting and Chinese bashing… this shows a trend towards racism. So can we stop punishing the Chinese?” implored the Gelang Patah MP.
