By Lim Guan Eng, Secretary General of the DAP
UMNO and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin continues to hammer at the Prime Minister’s 1 Malaysia by playing the racial card to mask the double-standards in law enforcement by the Attorney-General as well as selective prosecution and political persecution of PR leaders. By saying that there “is basis” to say that the authorities are slow in taking action when non-Malays are posting insensitive content online as opposed to swift action if the alleged offender is Malay, Muhyiddin has irresponsibly and recklessly raised the racial temperature.
How can there not be selective prosecution and political persecution when online death threats or bodily harm against BN leaders are immediately acted upon with arrests by the police and charges in court by the Attorney-General? However, no action has been taken against individual who made numerous death threats against me even when I had lodged police reports, as advised by the police.
PR leaders are subjected to double-standards and charged for offences when the evidence is flimsy. Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has been charged for sodomy whilst BN leaders who are caught on tape not only remained unpunished but are awarded high honours.
Is there any stern action against those who demonstrated outside former Bersih co-Chair Ambiga Sreenevasan’s home with butt exercises? Or why was there no action against the lies made by former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad that the Penang state government was anti-Islam merely because it permitted prayers of an NGO’s private building in Penang to be conducted by Muslim, Hindu and Christian priests?
Muhyidin should not racialise rule of law but ensure that there is justice for all by implementing it without fear or favour. Even though this is consistent with his ‘Malay first, Malaysian second’ ideology, giving justice a racial tinge will spell doom for moderation and contrasts Malaysia poorly with Indonesia, which has even passed the Anti-Racial Discrimination Act in accordance with the United Nations’ International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
By making such a comparison, I run the risk of being asked by those supporters of ‘Malay first, Malaysian second’ ideology to leave Malaysia and go to Indonesia. However rule of law, freedom of commerce, human talent, peace and stability are identified as the critical success factor of any transformation into a developed and high-income economy.
For this reason, Prime Minister Najib Razak should stop Muhyiddin from racialising the pursuit of justice and affirm our commitment towards our fundamental constitutional right of equality before the law.
