.JPG "Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dasuki speaks during a townhall session at Himpunan Penyatuan Ummah (Muslim Unity Rally) at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur September 13, 2019. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Miera Zulyana")
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Umno Youth chief Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today gave 10 reasons on why he thinks Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should remove the latter’s allies DAP and PKR from the ruling government, with the purported reason of restoring Malay dignity.
Asyraf, a former deputy minister, took to Facebook to blame Umno’s political foes PKR and DAP and some of their leaders for allegedly insulting the Malays and challenging the Malays’ special position, among other things.
“Based on the reasons above, Umno Youth once again urges Tun Mahathir Mohamed to do the right thing this time before it is too late to reunite the Malays by removing DAP leaders and certain racist PKR politicians from his government in order to restore Malay dignity as stated in the Kongres Maruah Melayu (Malay Dignity Congress) today!” the opposition party leader said on his official Facebook page.
Asyraf did not name the PKR politicians that he had alleged to be “racist”.
All seven DAP politicians specifically cited by Asyraf as having allegedly acted offensively were non-Malays, namely Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, his political secretary Tony Pua, Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran, Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Nga Kor Ming, Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi and Mengkibol assemblyman Chew Chong Sin
In his list of 10 reasons, Asyraf had among other things pinpointed the positions of Lim and Pua in the Finance Ministry, which he claimed was allegedly generally viewed as eroding the economic interests of the Malays and Bumiputera community.
“As an example, the sale of strategic assets owned by Bumiputera-Islam institutions and open tender carried out at all levels of government procurement had limited thousands of Bumiputera contractors that often face capital and cash flow constraints,” he said.
Asyraf also claimed that Bahasa Melayu as the national language was being insulted by the alleged use of Mandarin and Tamil by DAP and PKR leaders in official letters and statements.
He also blamed DAP and PKR leaders for Malaysia’s brief ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court — which only goes against the four most serious international crimes including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, insisting that the international treaty which Malaysia later retracted official support for was purportedly an erosion of the Malay rulers’ position.
He also blamed DAP and PKR leaders for Malaysia having almost adopted the United Nations’ International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which he claimed goes against the Federal Constitution’s Article 153 on the special position of the Malays and Bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak.
The efforts to adopt the Rome Statute and ICERD were actually initiatives by the Malaysian government under Pakatan Harapan, and not any single political parties. ICERD also allows for affirmative action policies if necessary.
Initiatives for Malaysia to officially show its support and ratify the Rome Statute had actually started since the days of the Malaysian government under the now-defeated Barisan Nasional coalition, of which Asyraf’s party Umno is a member of.
In Asyraf’s list of 10 reasons, he also cited instances when DAP leaders criticised the union between Malay-based parties Umno and PAS, alleging that their remarks had fuelled racial sentiments.
