Perkasa at its National Unity Convention, in Pusat Islam KL (Pic courtesy of The Malaysian Insider)
DAP has asked UMNO to publicly divorce Perkasa to distance itself from its racist image.
“By fully endorsing Perkasa, how can UMNO deny that it is an extremist political party that panders to racist ideology of dominance and superiority?” asked DAP Secretary General Lim Guan Eng in a strongly-worded statement today.
Lim said that the Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali had inflamed non-Muslims when he openly called for the Malay and Iban version of the Bible to be burned.
“UMNO leaders not only failed to condemn him but an UMNO Minister even supported him,” he said.
Lim also added that the public were outraged at the federal government’s attempt to justify the threat as a constitutional right to defend Islam and that there was no intention of offending Christians.
He also slammed the right-wing group for urging Putrajaya to take immediate action over the “phenomenon” that there are more non-Bumiputera students than bumiputera students who are exempted from repaying their PTPTN loans because they obtained first class honours.
Perkasa, in its National Unity Convention together with what Lim Guan Eng called “a coalition of racist Malay NGOs” at the Pusat Islam in Kuala Lumpur said that the Malaysian government should study reasons why Bumiputera students’ academic results are declining compared to non-Bumiputeras.
“In this context, the Malaysian government should review whether PTPTN exemptions should be given to Bumiputeras alone, in line with Article 153 of the Federal Constitution,” said Ibrahim in the convention’s National Unity Memorandum.
Instead of rewarding excellence regardless of race, Lim said, UMNO endorses Perkasa who intend to discriminate against excellent students just because they are non–Bumiputeras.
Lim said that the UMNO’s support for Perkasa was also apparent in the disappearance of 1Malaysia from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s speeches and rhetoric.
He asked MCA and Gerakan leaders to bring up in the Cabinet weekly meeting tomorrow that UMNO publicly divorce Perkasa to prove Barisan Nasional’s commitment and sincerity in opposing Perkasa. -The Rocket
