UPDATED @ 01:57:08 PM 01-06-2011
June 01, 2011
Dr Chua said “all political parties” will stop being race-based. — file pic
KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — All political parties will eventually move away from being race-based, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek claimed today, but the MCA president was silent on whether this meant Barisan Nasional (BN) components would eventually be merged or abolished.
When asked if political parties should move away from representing specific races, the MCA president said: “Slowly, probably, they’ll be moving away.”
Dr Chua stressed that he meant “all political parties”, when questioned specifically about the ruling BN coalition.
“Why do you always talk about Barisan Nasional when I told you, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is also based on race,” said Dr Chua.
Membership in MCA, Umno and MIC — the three biggest BN parties — is limited by race, while no PR parties impose such restrictions. PAS, however, requires all members be Muslim.
The MCA chief pointed out, however, that PAS mostly comprised the Malays, while PKR members were “mostly (former) Umno people”, and DAP was largely made up of the Chinese.
Dr Chua said earlier he believed Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia concept could be realised by 2020 when affirmative action policies shift towards being merit- and needs-based instead of the current race-centric arrangement.
He also described the 1 Malaysia vision as identifying oneself as Malaysian first above race.
Dr Chua went on to stress that the race-based BN was not a hindrance to Najib’s 1 Malaysia brainchild.
“We have been in existence for so long that, when we solve problems, we don’t talk about race,” he said.
“But we cannot run away from the fact that in Malaysia, we still have various races. I cannot say you’re not a Chinese just because you’re a Malaysian,” added Dr Chua.
BN, which was formed in 1973 to replace the Alliance Party, has been in power since Independence, but suffered a blow in Election 2008 when it lost its customary two-thirds control of Parliament and five states for the first time.
The race-based Alliance Party swept Malaya’s first federal elections in 1955 and later secured independence for the country, after which the political coalition’s racial formula has remained until today.
Dr Chua said today, however, that there was a trend of people moving towards “multi-racialism”.
“Everybody has to think like a Malaysian. We think of us as Malaysian first before we think of race,” he said.
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