IPOH, July 26 — Perak state education executive councillor Abdul Aziz Bari rejected claims that recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) will lead to communal friction.

He said there was no evidence of this, in response to Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria’s warning that national unity was at risk if the government adopted the Chinese vernacular school certificate.

Aziz also rejected Harussani’s assertion that the recognition would undermine Bahasa Malaysia’s standing as the national language.

"This is not an issue of the Chinese being against the Malay language. In Perak, there are Chinese schools with a majority of Malay students so we should not equate languages with a certain race,” he told a press conference today.

"If the UEC is recognised today, will there be fights tomorrow? I don’t see that happening unless we make an issue out of it.”

The constitutional law expert noted that BM’s position was enshrined in the Federal Constitution and that official government matters and Parliament debates were still conducted in Malay.

He further noted that the recognition of the UEC conditionally required holders to at least possess a SPM-level credit in BM.

"This shows that we are not relegating or pushing aside Bahasa Melayu,” he said.

Yesterday, Harussani claimed the recognition would damage the National Education Policy and invite racism.

Perak Mentri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu said yesterday he will meet Harussani to explain the state’s stand regarding the UEC.

On a separate matter, Abdul Aziz also asked the Education Ministry to expedite its depoliticisation drive among the state and district education departments in Perak, saying he was still receiving complaints from educators.