“WHAT a letdown by UMNO!!!”
This could be what is going through the heads of DAP’s loyalists after UMNO having failed miserably to reciprocate the goodwill gesture of its unity government ally by not interfering in the partial/discounted pardon of incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
In fact, the wrath or backlash that DAP received from its die-hards who are utterly disappointed with the party’s dead silence over the halving of the Pekan MP’s jail sentence and 76% reduction in fine for his role in the first of four 1MDB-related scandals has turned into double jeopardy.
Late yesterday (Feb 9), DAP received the proverbial slap on the face when UMNO vehemently rejected Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming’s proposal to nominate new Chinese villages in Selangor as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Somehow aligned to the tune of Perikatan Nasional (PN), UMNO expressed belief that “the implications of this proposal are too great in that it will eventually affect the Malay-Bumiputera position indirectly” although the purpose is to empower the country’s tourism sector.
“When an area is recognised as a world heritage site, then automatically residents who inhabit the area will be considered as indigenous people (orang asal) for all aspects related to education, culture and language will also be certified,” UMNO secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki pointed out in a statement.
“This runs afoul of the Federal Constitution which recognises only Bumiputera as the original residents (penduduk asal) with certain privileged rights.”
The deemed Barisan Nasional (BN) ‘big brother’ whose MP-ship in the Dewan Rakyat pales in comparison to DAP by 26 to 40 further schooled Nga who is also the Teluk Intan MP and DAP national vice-chairman that the land issue “is an issue of dignity and sovereignty that cannot be tolerated by the Malays”.
“Proposals like this will only damage the harmony of the unity government, spark unnecessary polemics among the people, and are not even in line with the Malaysia MadanI policy pioneered by the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim),” asserted Asyraf who was the previously the UMNO Youth chief.
“UMNO remains with the principle of being a Malay-Bumiputera bastion in the government. We will never allow any issue that threatens the well-being of the people or undermines the rights of every race as have been enshrined in the Federal Constitution.”
Perhaps the latest development only proves this observation by modern-day British Conservative MP, author and diarist Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (1928-1999) right: – Feb 10, 2024
