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Ex-law minister: Malaysia racial unity threatened
Associated Press - December 4, 2008
Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia's former law minister accused the ruling party Thursday of pandering to the ethnic Malay Muslim majority and threatening decades of harmony among the country's racially diverse communities.
The United Malays National Organization governing party expelled Zaid Ibrahim on Tuesday for attending opposition gatherings, less than three months after he resigned from the Cabinet to protest the use of a law allowing detention without trial.
Zaid said Thursday he was sacked for speaking too bluntly about sensitive issues. In recent months, he has criticized affirmative action policies for Malays, saying they were discriminatory and failed to inspire cooperation among different racial groups.
"It's as if we don't want (multiracial) unity," Zaid told a news conference. "UMNO has become more ethnocentric... but that is not our role. UMNO's role is to be the provider, the one who takes care of everyone, the one who has the trust of all the communities." Zaid said some party officials also often made racially provocative remarks that could hurt the feelings of the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
Nazri Abdul Aziz, the minister in charge of Parliament, rejected Zaid's criticism, saying the government has successfully managed race relations to ensure peace.
The ruling party's decision-making council said Tuesday it decided to expel Zaid because he flouted party rules by attending events organized by opposition groups.
Malays make up nearly 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people and get privileges in state contracts, jobs, housing and education under an affirmative action program launched following 1969 racial riots that were fueled partly by Malay discontent over Chinese financial clout.
Many ethnic Chinese and Indians feel marginalized by the policy. Critics say it mainly benefits a well-connected Malay elite and breeds cronyism, corruption and inefficiency.
UMNO is the linchpin of a 13-party multiethnic governing coalition. Wide-ranging public dissatisfaction over government policies sparked a surge in support for the opposition in March general elections, resulting in the ruling coalition's weakest performance in its 51-year rule.
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