Stop approving more race-based parties for Malaysia- Zulkifli tells ROS
PUCHONG: It is high time for the government to put a stop on approving anymore race based parties from being established.
In a statement today, Parti Patriotik Nasional protem secretary general Mohd Zulkifli Abdul Fatah said such parties are a bane to multicultural Malaysia and can threaten the nation’s peace.
“If we look at existing political parties; Umno, MIC, MCA and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), they are parties based on race while DAP, Amanah, PAS and Gerakan are political parties open to all races but they are dominated by one particular race.
“Only PKR and PSM can really be seen as multi-ethnic party and now. With the Registrar of Societies (ROS) giving approvals whimsically, more race based parties are mushrooming,” he said.
Zulkilfi also cited an example on how race-based parties are tearing the nation apart; citing the ‘hot issue’ regarding lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz who threatened SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong 1 over its “religious” Chinese New Year decorations.
Zulkifli said he was disgusted by the way Khairul, who also a right-wing Putra vice-president, gloated about his ‘win’ after the school took down the decorations after the threat.
“What he (Khairul) did was surely to inspire more extremists to become bold and ravage the nation’s harmony.
“In fact, his so-called victory was an abuse of the freedom of speech guaranteed under the Pakatan Harapan administration,” he said.
Zulkifli added that after the 14th General Election, the ROS had approved several race based parties such as Putra, Malaysian Advancement Party (MAP) and Minority Rights Action Party (MiRA).
“These political parties only fight for certain people based on race and this is in contrast to the concept of ‘Malaysia Baru’.
“Therefore, we urge the ROS to stop approving race-based parties and only allow multiracial parties to established to maintain harmony in the nation,” he said.
By Fifi Harteeny Marzuki
