Najib’s decision to override Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Entulu Belaun’s decision to drop the “race” column in government official forms raises a question whether it is Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (PERKASA) or Barisan Nasional (BN) who is running  the government, said Lim Guan Eng, Secretary General of the DAP.

Earlier this morning the print edition of The Star reported that Entulu had announced that the “race” column would be gradually removed from government forms.

Soon after, another story appeared on The Star Online website quoting PM Najib as saying that the column would be maintained, and that Entulu would apologise for his “mistake”. Najib’s clarification came after PERKASA President Ibrahim Ali’s threat that it will take legal action in opposing the government’s decision to drop the “race” column from official forms.

Commenting on the turn of events, Lim said,

“Is Perkasa, despite never having won a single seat in the general elections actually running the Federal government, or is Ibrahim Ali, who lost his parliamentary seat of Pasir Mas in the last general elections, the real Prime Minister for Malaysia?”

A Malaysian Malaysia

The issue of breaking away from a racially run nation had consistently been opposed by DAP, who have championed a Malaysian Malaysia since the party’s inception.

“After 57 years of Merdeka, the time has come to identify ourselves as Malaysian First and not be divided by race and religion,” said Lim Guan Eng, who added that it was unfortunate that the language of racial hatred and religous extremism by organisations such as Perkasa had torn apart the social fabric of national unity.

Lim expressed alarm that extremist and racist organisation have acquired prominence that they can enjoy “legal immunity” for making inhumane and violent remarks against non-Muslims and non-Malays, but also influence government policy and Ministerial decision making. -The Rocket