KUALA LUMPUR – The draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the government on parliamentary allocations for the opposition promotes a “negative perception” of Malays and Islam, two Bersatu leaders said.
Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said the draft MoU, which was yesterday rejected by Perikatan Nasional (PN), contained “unconstitutional” conditions.
“By putting in the (draft) MoU the Malaysian Malaysia agenda that will undermine the rights of the Malays and Muslims (as) guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, the (government) has sinister intentions,” the Machang MP told Scoop.
“We’re not afraid of declaring our assets (but) the issue (with the draft) is bigger than that; the issue is about ideas surreptitiously inserted into the MoU hinting at the government trying to revive Icerd (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination).”
He was referring to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government’s attempt in 2019 to ratify Icerd, a United Nations convention that calls for eliminating all forms of racial discrimination. The plan was withdrawn following brickbats from Umno, PAS and Malay interest groups which claimed the convention contravenes the special privileges accorded to Malays and Bumiputera.
While Icerd is not mentioned in the draft MoU, the document requires PN lawmakers to refrain from hateful and divisive speech and from using royalty, race and religion (3R) issues in their politics.
It also requires PN MPs to uphold equality of all people and Malaysian citizens before the law and to protection from discrimination.
Bersatu information chief Datuk Razali Idris, meanwhile, said these conditions would affect the opposition’s ability to defend their race, religion and country.
He also said that if PN were to accept the proposed agreement, they would lose their “credibility” as opposition MPs, effectively resulting in a Dewan Rakyat with no opposing voices.
Yesterday, PN secretary-general and opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said the coalition rejected the draft for four reasons, including that it “contravened” the Federal Constitution while potentially affecting the special privileges of the Malays and Bumiputera.
PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari had also claimed that one of the conditions in the draft agreement was for opposition MPs to acknowledge that the Federal Constitution is a document that provides equal rights to all Malaysians regardless of their race and religion.
Accepting this condition would go against the Islamic party’s struggles for Islam, while “forsaking” the constitution which places Islam as the official religion of the Malaysia.
Wan Fayhsal today said PN consists of “honourable people” and as such would not sacrifice its principles for the sake of accepting the MoU.
“We are not going to fall into this trap. Hence, that is why we rejected the draft MoU.”
He also dismissed DAP vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming’s recent remarks criticising the opposition coalition for “purposely looking for issues” in the draft MoU.
“Nga’s remarks are totally unbecoming. His comments have really strayed from our arguments…(the government) will do anything to get our hands tied so that they can weaken us as well as the Malay Islamic agenda,” Wan Fayhsal said. – September 16, 2024