KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s message of moderation delivered abroad is finding little traction at home where Putrajaya has failed to stem the perceived rise in extremism, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said today.

The opposition stalwart claimed that Najib’s international call for moderation and peace has also not resonated with the ruling elite in his party, Umno, whom he claims are banking on using racial and religious issues to regain the political clout lost over the years.

“Let there be no mistake. Malays and Islam are not under attack in Malaysia. It is multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia which is under siege by intolerant and extremist forces which are trying to turn moderation into a dirty word in Malaysia,” he said in a translated copy of his committee stage debate speech of the 2015 Budget in Parliament.

Lim said the moderation initiative appeared to be a mere exercise in double speak, especially with Putrajaya’s recent decision against charging Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali under the controversial Sedition Act 1948 for threatening to burn Malay-language bibles.

The Gelang Patah MP juxtaposed this with Najib’s maiden speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2010, in which the latter commended US President Barack Obama for taking a “courageous public position” in condemning a plan to burn the Quran by a pastor in Florida.

“As for himself, up to now, Najib is not prepared to do what he commended Obama of doing — condemning Ibrahim Ali for his threat to burn the Bible,” Lim said.

The senior DAP leader, however, said what is more worrying are recent claims by Umno leaders such as former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin and Johor Umno youth vice-chief Khairul Anwar Rahmat, who said the party grassroots, like them, fear that moderation will dilute the strength of the Malays and Islam in the country.

Lim said such views are a “great disservice” to the country and the religion, claiming that it only makes those in the ruling party appear as though they are willing to go to extreme lengths just to stay in power, akin to the behaviour of the outlawed Islamic State (IS).

He stressed that the moderation that Najib has bandied over the past four years at world forums is much needed back home, where Malaysians can then identify and share common values such as peace, harmony and true happiness that are shared by all religions.

The prime minister, however, has yet to mobilise a coalition of moderates in Umno and the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition that will live up to his call at this year’s UNGA for moderates to “reclaim their religion, and pursue the path to peace”, Lim added.

“Malaysians are entitled to ask why Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders and MPs have refused to sign in a coalition of moderates against extremists of all religions, both nationally and internationally, to build a future based on peace, harmony and security for all, regardless of faith?” he said.