Dr M says ‘1Melayu, 1Bumi’ movement disastrous

Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

 

Kuala Lumpur, April 22 — In a surprising move today, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad spoke out against Utusan Malaysia’s idea of a “1Melayu, 1Bumi” movement, calling it disastrous.

This is despite Malay rights group Perkasa announcing yesterday that it would spearhead the movement, warning that the Chinese were seeking ultimate power.

“I hope it doesn’t happen. It would be very bad... people should think about this, we are going into disaster if this happens,” Dr Mahathir (picture) told reporters today.

Utusan Malaysia has called on its owners Umno to spearhead a 1 Melayu, 1 Bumi movement involving all Malay parties, claiming that the DAP was intent on toppling the country’s Malay leadership.

In backing Utusan Malaysia’s call for a movement to “unite” all Malay parties, Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said that the Malay rights group did not have the “luxury of time” to wait for Malay political parties to initiate action.

“Perkasa will take on the responsibility of spearheading the ‘1Melayu, 1Bumi’ movement, where it is obvious the Chinese, through the DAP, are trying to take over the political power of the Malays,” said the Perkasa man yesterday.

In response, Dr Mahathir said today that such a movement would eventually result in a two-party system where each side would be dominated by one race.

“If we go ahead with this, there will be a two-party system... if one side is Malay-dominated and one side Chinese dominated, this would be bad,” the former prime minister said.