11 minutes
PETALING JAYA: Political leaders should focus on long-term national interests instead of opting for narrow communal posturing to win support, the Centre for a Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) said today.
The NGO’s vice-president, Datuk Simon Lim Seng Chai, said such an approach would harm the fabric that holds this diverse nation together.
“We are deeply concerned over the posturing by Economics Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Azmin Ali following the conclusion of the Semenyih by-election,” Lim said.
“Barely hours after the polls results were announced on Saturday night, Azmin had issued a media statement calling for the bumiputera agenda to be fulfilled ‘without feeling apologetic or fearful’.”
Lim said the tone of Azmin’s message and the speed at which it was issued raises the prospects that the upcoming Rantau by-election will see heightened posturing of this sort.
“This is unsettling considering Azmin’s ministry oversees massive public funds involving the country’s economic well-being,” he said.
“The current federal government swept to power last May on the promise of being a government for all. Pillar five of the PH Manifesto pledges to ‘Create a Malaysia that is inclusive, moderate and respected globally’.
“It had also pledged to implement policies and programmes that unite the nation and create an inclusive society and maintain the harmony of multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia.
“The current administration should stick to the letter and spirit of the promise. It should also learn from the mistakes of its predecessor whose overt racial and religious pandering was a put-off to voters, resulting in the coalition getting the boot in the last general election.”
