SHAH ALAM, Feb 5 ― Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was “stupid” to blame Chinese traders for rising prices in the country and must be removed to demonstrate Putrajaya’s intolerance of racism, PAS MP Khalid Samad said today.
The Shah Alam lawmaker said it was nonsensical to blame any ethnicity for spiralling cost of living, which he attributed to policies and monopolies sanctioned by the federal government.
“I've never come across any economist who has likened the increasing price of goods to a particular race,” Khalid said at a press conference today. “It's stupid and oversimplified.”
He added that Ismail Sabri should be sacked from the Cabinet if Putrajaya is committed to weeding out racism.
In a Facebook post earlier this week, Ismail Sabri urged Malay consumers to boycott Chinese businesses that did not lower prices in line with falling petrol and diesel prices.
He claimed that the traders’ failure to lower prices despite a reduction in fuel costs was a form of sabotage intended to foment disaffection towards the government, which he said was wrongly blamed by consumers for the rising cost of living.
The Cabinet clarified yesterday that the agriculture and agro-based industries minister’s statement was a broad statement aimed at all unscrupulous traders and not just the Chinese.
But Khalid said the statement issued by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will not absolve Ismail as the remarks have far reaching consequences.
“People can see through Umno's racial politics.... Najib's statement does nothing to counter what has been said,” he said.
