Guan Eng says Umno blind to history, Constitution

By Clara Chooi

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng accused Umno leaders today of being “blind to history, the Constitution and in their hearts”, claiming that the ruling party promoted racial hatred and intolerance.

Citing several racially-charged incidents as examples, the Penang Chief Minister and Bagan MP charged that Umno leaders had “hijacked” the Federal Constitution and used it at their whims and fancies for the purpose of dividing Malaysians.

“When Umno talks about the Constitution, they only talk about the special positions of the Malays and not about the legitimate interests of the other communities.

“This shows that Umno is blind to history, blind to the Constitution, and blind in their hearts. We must fight them,” he said at his opening address at the Perak DAP 15th Ordinary Convention this morning.

Lim (picture) pointed out that Article 153 of the Federal Constitution states, “It shall be the responsibility of the Yang di Pertuan Agong to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any states of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this article.”

“But Umno always cites Article 153 of the Constitution on the special position of the Malays as justification for their racist Malays-only approach.

“They invariably fail to mention the legitimate interests of other communities must also be protected,” he reiterated.

As such, Lim pointed out that the “Malaysian first” agenda was enshrined in the Constitution but this was unfortunately ignored by Umno’s “racist” leaders.

He claimed that this “racist mindset” of placing racial interests above national interests was what fuelled Defence Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi to claim that the low percentage of non-Malays in the military was due to the community’s lack of patriotism.

Lim also accused Umno-owned Malay daily Utusan Malaysia of attempting to recreate the bloody race clash on May 13, 1969, when it called the incident a “sacred day” and a “blessing in disguise”.

“The government must take action against Utusan as it spreads hatred and extremism, behaving as if they want another May 13 by celebrating it as a sacred day. I believe the Malays in our country are not like Utusan Malaysia. Utusan is only their Umno extremists.

Lim also pointed to the recent racist school principals incident and the racial remarks made by a National Civics Bureau official during a Puteri Umno function. The official has since been reprimanded.

“Look at the derogatory and racist remarks by school principals who instill hate by calling Indians dogs and Chinese ‘pendatang’ who should go back to China or the BTN (National Civics Bureau) official who called the Chinese ‘si mate sepet’ and Indians ‘si botol’.

“Or the Umno leaders who openly said that they do not need Chinese and Indian votes,” he said.

At this juncture, Lim took a swipe at Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, and asked why the non-Malays in Perak should support BN in the next general election.

“Why should Perakians support a leader whose party comrades think that they do not need the Chinese and Indian votes?

“Ask Zambry to look in the mirror... you mean we do not need Indian votes?” he told the a1,000-strong audience of Perak DAP delegates.

Lim claimed that unlike Umno’s accusations against DAP, the party and its leaders were not anti-Malay, anti-Islam or against the Royal Institution.

“In our struggles, we have been forced to face many false accusations. I would like to state here – do not anyone dare to question our loyalty to the Constitution of Malaysia.

“They make these accusations but they cannot even find proof,” he said.

He noted that DAP’s stuggles were founded on the Constitution itself, pointing out that the party had amended its own constitution in 2006 to ensure this.

“We refuse to be what we are not, and to remove any doubts, the DAP amended its party constitution in 2006 to abide fully with the Merdeka Constitution that gave us our independence,” he said.

Lim also continued to expound on his “Middle Malaysia” theme, and listed out the five core principles behind the concept.

They are the Malaysian first agenda, basic human rights and a civil society, equal opportunity, rule of law and integrity and intelligent city communities.

“It is crucial to note that there is only one middle ground in Malaysian politics, and it is the middle ground that matters.

“Make no mistake that Middle Malaysia will decide which coalition will govern next,” he said.