Kit Siang: Umno is the enemy of 1 Malaysia

The DAP urged Datuk Seri Najib Razak today to stop his Umno party’s newspapers from playing the race card if he really wanted the Chinese community to give his administration a chance.

Lim Kit Siang also singled out Umno as the biggest enemy of the prime minister’s 1 Malaysia concept of inclusiveness.

“Najib should ask Umno media like Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian and government television and radio channels to give him a chance to prove that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians by ceasing to play the race and religion card.” said party stalwart Lim Kit Siang today.

He cited as an example what he claimed to be the mainstream media’s campaign to demonise Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng as anti-Malay.

The Penang CM and the DAP have been portrayed by some of Umno’s newspapers as being anti-Malay.

The state administration was alleged to have cancelled its official procession to mark Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. This was denied by Guan Eng.

The state’s local authorities have also been accused with targeting Malay traders for enforcement action despite statistics showing otherwise.

Lim said it was obvious the race card was being used by Umno newspapers against the DAP.

The Ipoh Timur MP was responding today to the prime minister’s appeal to the Chinese community in Malaysia to give the Barisan Nasional government a chance to prove itself, which he made at the national Chinese New Year celebrations at the Pandamaran New Village in Klang, last night.

Lim said Najib seemed oblivious to what was being done by Umno’s newspapers and media organisations.

He said the only conclusion that could be reached was that Najib was not serious or fully committed to 1 Malaysia otherwise he would not have allowed the Umno media to continue to exploit race and religion for political gains.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that the biggest enemies of Najib’s 1 Malaysia come from within Umno and Barisan National (BN).”

He pointed out that even leaders of BN component parties, such as MCA, Gerakan, MIC or the Sabah and Sarawak parties, do not have the political conviction or courage to tell Najib to stop the irresponsible politics of race and religion.

“If Najib cannot even ask the Umno-owned media to stop playing the race card, what positive answer can he get from his request to the Chinese community to give his government a chance to prove itself?”