Perikatan's silence on Dr M's racial rant implies agreement, says PKR man

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.-Reuters filepic

PETALING JAYA: The deafening silence by Perikatan Nasional on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's reported racist narrative implies that the coalition agrees with it, says Datuk Ramanan Ramakrishnan.

The Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra) special committee chairman said there was a lack of action from the coalition when Dr Mahathir referred to non-Malays as "pendatang" (immigrants).

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"I have not seen any Perikatan leaders – including Datuk Seri Azmin Ali – dissociating themselves from Dr Mahathir.

"I urge Malaysians to turn up in full force tomorrow (Saturday, Sept 9, for the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections) to express their unhappiness against Perikatan and Dr Mahathir," he said on Friday (Sept 8).

On Monday (Sept 4), the former two-time prime minister was reported to have described political parties led by non-Malays as "parti pendatang" (immigrant parties).

He also said non-Malays' reluctance to assimilate with Malay culture, to the extent of creating their own political parties, contributed to racial issues in the country.

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Ramanan, who is also PKR deputy information chief, said Perikatan has been trying to appeal to voters in Pulai and Simpang Jeram not to be afraid of the coalition, especially PAS.

"Its leaders have been campaigning saying Perikatan represents all races and religions in Malaysia.

"I do not think that Malaysians will believe Azmin or Perikatan as their campaigns continue to harp on race and religion," he said.

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The Sungai Buloh MP also said Azmin's claims of Kelantan being a shining example of the coalition's leadership is deeply flawed since the state did not even have clean water supply and unisex hair salons were banned under the PAS administration.

"Is this the kind of Malaysia that Azmin is advocating? Malaysians must send a clear message on Sept 9.

"A vote for Perikatan is a vote to end a plural and progressive Malaysia," he said.