Malaysia's Mahathir vows to unite Malays: 'Bernama'
Malaysia's Mahathir vows to unite Malays: 'Bernama'
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad vowed
on Monday vowed to unite the country's dominant, but deeply
divided Malay community and protect their interests, the national
Bernama news agency reported.
"We must remember that we need not unite solely to oppose
others. It's just to safeguard our interests," Mahathir told
reporters, referring to his United Malays National Organization
(UMNO) party's 2001 resolution.
Bernama did not give any other details.
The multi-racial nation's majority community, Malays have
witnessed a bitter division over a total 15-year prison sentence
handed to former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on charges
of sodomy and corruption.
Despite the conviction, many Malays say the charges against
Anwar and the severity of the sentence were politically motivated
to remove Anwar as a rival to Mahathir.
Anwar, a former prime-minister-in-waiting, says he was ousted
by Mahathir's allies to prevent him from exposing corruption in
the government. The prime minister says Anwar was sacked on moral
grounds and indicted for the same reasons.
Last November, Mahathir's ruling coalition lost a crucial by-
election in his home state of Kedah to the opposition Parti
Keadilan Nasional, which champions Anwar and is led by his wife
Azizah Ismail.
The defeat also marked the defection of Chinese voters, who
have strongly aired their suspicion that an education project to
bring together children from different ethnic backgrounds was
aimed at eroding their language and culture.
Mahathir has said the government would defend the country's
affirmative action programs and Malay groups angrily rejected the
call from Suqiu, a Chinese political lobby group, to stop
favoring the Malays.
Affirmative action programs introduced in 1971 under the New
Economic Policy established quotas allowing Malays to enter
universities and employment even if they were less qualified than
applicants from other races. They also allocated 30 percent of
the equity in local companies to Malays.
The privileges have caused deep resentment among the large
Chinese and Indian communities.
Malays account for 55 percent of Malaysia's 23 million people
while ethnic Chinese and Indians account for 30 percent and 10
percent respectively.
Mahathir has repeatedly accused PAS of trying to destabilize
the country by manipulating racial and religious issues.
Opposition leaders, meanwhile, say UMNO's development policies
benefit only a handful while neglecting the country's poor and
underprivileged.
The opposition on Monday claimed Mahathir's government had
stifled democracy throughout 2000 by arresting outspoken
opposition leaders and allowing corruption to continue.
"There is little evidence to suggest that the government is
serious about eradicating elite corruption or about checking
abuses of administrative power," Azizah said in a statement.