KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak insisted today that his government is against racial extremism and will not stand for anyone who would hurt the feelings of others, though he has previously voiced support for the pro-Malay #Merah169 rally last month.
Speaking at MCA’s annual general assembly here today, the Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman criticised both the #Merah169 and pro-reform Bersih rallies, but suggested that the latter was more provocative and seditious.
“We have incidents of red shirt rally. We also have the yellow shirt incident,” Najib said in his officiating speech, referring to the colour of the clothing worn by participants of the respective movements.
“What we should stress on, if want to do rally, do it peacefully. We allow peaceful assembly. But don’t bring banners that are racist, don’t make statements that are seditious. Don’t hurt the feelings of others. And most importantly, don’t insult the country’s leader,” he added.
Najib maintained that “moderation”, interracial co-operation and “progressive” ideas form the ideological foundation of the ruling coalition, which was manifested in the MCA’s criticism of the Bersih 4 rally.
“I would like to thank MCA because when the yellow shirts rally happened with the acts of insult against the leaders, MCA had condemned such actions as going against the Chinese culture.
“And this is what we should hang on to, we can have differences of opinions… we have a process on how to harmonise our differences within BN,” said Najib, who is also Umno president.
The MCA was among those that opposed the #Merah169 rally and called on the government to clamp down on its organisers for stoking racial sentiment.
However, in a BN supreme council meeting held just a week before the gathering, Najib said the component parties had “agreed to disagree” on the matter.
Despite the disagreement, Najib insisted that he believes in power-sharing and that BN prides itself on the consensus-based decision-making system, which he added was a showcase of true harmony in BN.
He added that the consensus system underlined the “social contract” agreed upon by the representatives of all races after independence, and was later manifested in the Federal Constitution.
“As BN chairman, I believe in consensus and to move forward, we have to believe in the core principles of this country and this nation has built itself through consensus, which was later made into the social contract. And this then became the basis for the Federal Constitution.”
The September 16 gathering, dubbed Himpunan Maruah Melayu, was purportedly held to uphold Malay pride following the action of some Chinese Bersih 2.0 supporters who stomped on the picture of Malay leaders — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.
But critics of #Merah169 believe the rally was intended to divert public attention from the scandals plaguing the Najib administration, and to turn legitimate demands for reform into a racial issue.
