Support candidates of other races, too, says DPM
POWER-SHARING: Practise tolerance as we need each other, says Zahid
DEPUTY Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia could not maintain its power-sharing concept if the people choose to only support candidates of their own race.
The Barisan Nasional deputy chairman said voters should remember that Malaysia is a multiethnic country and therefore, needed elected representatives of various races.
“What will happen if we only support candidates of our own race?
“We must practise tolerance as the world and political situation have changed. The Chinese need the Malays and Indians, and vice versa,” he said when closing the Ipoh Barat Umno division delegates’ meeting here yesterday.
Present were Menteri Besar and Perak BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, Ipoh Barat Umno division leader Datuk Shamsuddin Abd Ghaffar and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Deparment Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, who acted as the foster parent for the division.
Zahid, who is also Umno vicepresident, said the Malay-based party had always practised the powersharing concept and supported candidates from other component parties in every election.
Therefore, he said, other races should also support Umno candidates in each election.
He said BN also believed in a “winwin situation”, instead of a “zerosum Deputy Prime Minister closing of the Ipoh Barat Umno division delegates’ meeting in Pic by Muhaizan Yahya
game”, where the coalition-led government would be represented by leaders of various races.
He claimed that the dwindling support for BN in urban constituencies was a result of a campaign of hate championed by certain quarters.
“BN must change this trend as the coalition has always served the people, regardless of their backgrounds and localities,” he said.
Zahid said Umno members should also understand that Islam had always promoted tolerance towards other religions and their followers.
He said the moderation approach promoted by party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak gave the country a good reputation.
“There are countries which want to implement Islamic law or promote secularism, but have failed since they are focusing on differences rather than uniting the people,” he said.
Zahid also urged Umno leaders and members to give their undivided support to Najib, who had to face various internal and external challenges. at the
yesterday.
He reminded previous leaders to stop any effort to topple the prime minister, the same way they had enjoyed much support from the people when they were holding the top post in the party and the government.
Earlier, Shamsuddin said the setting up of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia would not affect the division as party members remained loyal to Umno.
He also said that party members would support BN candidates in the parliamentary constituency, although they were not from Umno.
Shamsuddin also proposed that the Ipoh Barat parliamentary constituency be renamed to reflect its location, and among the options were Kepayang, Ipoh Raya or Greentown.
On another matter, Zahid said he was not disheartened by criticism on his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, but was proud that a religious school graduate like him could speak at such an important forum.
“I am a graduate from (SMA) Izuddin Shah (in Ipoh) but I could speak at the UN General Assembly.”
He admitted that while he might not have pronounced one or two words correctly, at least he was able to represent the country and raise important issues at the General Assembly.
“I will only feel disheartened and embarrassed if I see those who were born and raised in the country, but cannot speak Bahasa Malaysia.
“Some of them cannot speak the language although they are old and dignitaries,” he said, adding that foreigners who lived in the country for a few years could speak better than those people.
Zahid led Malaysia’s delegation to the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly last month, where he also delivered the country’s national statement at the general debate on Sept 24. However, some quarters levelled criticism at him and highlighted pronunciation mistakes he made rather than focusing on the important message he conveyed.
Zambry said he was baffled as to why some people focused more on the pronunciation of certain words rather than the points raised.
He said there were many world leaders who did not have a good grasp of the language, including those from developed countries, such as Japan.
However, he said, they continued to receive strong support from their people and others at the international level.
The state Barisan Nasional chairman hoped that Zahid would not be “shy or shy away” from speaking in English since there would always be those who would belittle the coalition’s leaders.