Mahathir’s parliamentary statement  on Suqiu a repudiation of his Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia as well as  confession that Barisan Nasional deceived Malaysian  Chinese to  vote for it in last general election

(Petaling Jaya, Tuesday): The parliamentary statement of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in reply to the question by DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Kerk Kim Hock on Suqiu is not only a repudiation of his Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia but a confession that the Barisan Nasional had  deceived the Malaysian Chinese to vote for it  in the last general election to save its parliamentary two-thirds majority.

Mahathir himself declared ten years ago that the first of the nine strategic challenges to be overcome to achieve Vision 2020 is to establish a "Bangsa Malaysia" - a united Malaysian nation with a sense of common and shared destiny,  at peace with itself, territorially and ethnically integrated, living in harmony, in  full and fair partnership, with political loyalty and dedication to the nation.

Suqiu represents one formula for the establishment of such a Bangsa Malaysia and in condemning Suqiu out-of-hand as calculated to cause racial disunity and therefore  not much different from the communists or Al-Maunah, Mahathir had not only repudiated  the Vision 2020 and Bangsa Malaysia concepts, but had perpetuated unwarranted and baseless slurs against Suqiu and the Chinese community who supported it, as reflected from the endorsement  from over 2,000 Malaysian Chinese organisations.

Mahathir’s denunciation of Suqiu tantamounts to an indictment of his Vision 2020 as how could Bangsa Malaysia emerge from the full integration of the diverse peoples in Malaysia  if the division of Malaysians into bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras is for perpetuity?

It was most unprincipled and cynical on Mahathir’s part to say that the Cabinet was forced to  accept Suqiu "in principle" as the general election was approaching then, stating:

"We were threatened then as elections were just round the corner. That’s why they came up with the memorandum, as a threat to the Barisan Nasional, and that if we didn’t entertain their request they would tell the Chinese not to support us.

"This was deliberate and the timing was well-planned. What could we do then?"

Mahathir’s claim that any potential chaos arising from Suqui’s demands was defused because he personally forbade UMNO Youth and other Malay groups from resorting to "violent protests" is most shocking, when any form of "violent protests" to any form of electoral appeals in a democratic society must be denounced without qualification.

Is Mahathir suggesting that there would circumstances when "violent protests" by Umno Youth would be justified or could be condoned and that this was why no action had been taken to prosecute UMNO Youth for the provocative and racist demonstration outside the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in August?

Mahathir’s parliamentary statement yesterday is a most unbecoming from a Prime Minister and is ominous about future political directions and developments of the Barisan Nasional government.
 

(12/12/2000)