Umno turning into ‘Nazi stormtroopers’ with racial taunts, says Guan Eng
(MM) – Leaders like Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam are giving Umno a bad name with their racial taunts that threaten Malaysia’s cultural diversity, the DAP’s Lim Guan Eng warned today.
Unless stern action is taken against both men and soon, the Malay party may go down the same path set upon by Nazi stormtroopers who propagated racial purity and supremacy and split Malaysia into two distinct nations based on whether they were Umno members or not, the opposition leader added in a statement today.
“At the rate that Umno leaders are abandoning the ideal of a Malaysian nation and spewing racial hatred, Umno will in future be no different from the Nazi stormtroopers who advocated racial purity and supremacy,” the DAP secretary-general said, weighing in on the latest storm enveloping his political rivals.
Lim, who is also Bagan MP, urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to chastise the two.
“Any failure by the Prime Minister to act by repudiating them and punishing their racist taunts and hatred will only divide Malaysia into two nations with double-standards – one nation and standard for Umno the other for non-Umno who neither deserve equal protection before the law nor constitutional rights as citizens of the country,” the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmaker said.
Ahmad Zahid, one of three Umno vice-presidents facing fresh elections this month, sparked a public uproar yesterday after he was reported advocating a “shoot first” approach for the police in dealing with suspected gang members in the wake of a violent crime spree that has resulted in Malays making up the majority of the victims.
The home minister, whose portfolio empowers him to oversee police operations, was also reported saying there was nothing wrong with arresting the over 40,000 known gangsters in the country, half of whom are Indians in a speech at a security briefing event with community leaders in Ayer Keroh, Malacca last Saturday.
“What is the situation of robbery victims, murder victims during shootings? Most of them are our Malays. Most of them are our race,” he was quoted as saying by news portal Malaysiakini yesterday, based on a 20-minute audio recording of the speech.
“I think the best way is that we no longer compromise with them. There is no need to give them any more warning. If (we) get the evidence, (we) shoot first,” he added, referring to suspected criminals.
Ahmad Zahid had come under heavy fire recently over his steadfast push to restore preventive detention powers to the authorities, which had been removed two years ago when the government abolished two controversial security laws—the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance—criticised for its abuse to curtail political dissent.
“All Malaysians regardless of race and religion are victims of crime. By declaring that only Malays are victims, are the non-Malay victims of crime invisible or should just disappear without the required protection from crimes against them?
“I still find it hard to believe that a Home Minister entrusted to uphold law and order can so flippantly make such seditious remarks promoting lawlessness and public disorder,” Lim said.
Ahmad Zahid’s Umno colleague, Mohd Ali was formerly the Malacca chief minister who had his turn in the spotlight for blaming Chinese voters for his surprise defeat in the predominantly Malay Bukit Katil parliamentary seat by a large margin in the 13th General Elections.
Lim chided Mohd Ali for continuing to flash the racial card, claiming the real reason for the Malaccan leader’s loss was due to corruption and abuse of power while in office.
Mohd Ali, who was found guilty of money politics and disqualified in the 2009 Umno elections, has also thrown his hat in the ring for the vice-presidency.
