KOTA BARU, March 7 — Datuk Seri Azmin Ali has accused Umno of never addressing the plight of Bumiputeras and Malays, and only being interested in helping its cronies.
The economic affairs minister said despite ruling the country for over 60 years, most Malays were still disadvantaged.
“They only had programmes or initiatives that brought profit to their cronies,” he told reporters, referring to Umno.
“Where is the truth that Umno looked after the Malays? Just look at Kelantan, the Malays and Muslims in Kelantan and Terengganu are still struggling.”
Azmin added the six-decade administration under Umno had failed to address the poor in these two states, saying the number of people in the ‘poor’ bracket within the state was worrying.
“Why is this happening? It is because they never built an agenda for the Bumiputeras and Malays.
“That is why PAS has to be careful of Umno,” he said in reference to the recent cooperation of the two Malay parties, after chairing the first Kelantan Action Council Meeting.
Azmin had responded as such after being quizzed on how the Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties would ensure the Malays would be looked after following attacks from the Opposition, accusing the administration being anti-Malay.
“In PH, especially PKR, [Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia] and [Parti Amanah Negara], we want to look after the wellbeing of the Malays without affecting the benefits of other races and I have successfully achieved this in Selangor,” he said.
Azmin went on to say the racial harmony in Selangor was preserved due to non-race based policies that functioned depending on need.
“We can no longer be racially-based and we shouldn’t offend or diminish the aspirations of the needs of the Malays and Muslims as well, who are the majority in the country,” he said.
