JOHOR BARU: A coalition of Johor non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said they will continue to force Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to apologise over his demeaning remark about the Bugis community.
The Coordinating Council of the Federation of Johor Malay Non-Governmental Organisatons (Gabung Johor) vice president Abdullah Md Yusof said that Dr Mahathir's words were racial in its tone and seditious in nature.
He said that as long as Dr Mahathir did not apologise, the 850 NGOs under the coalition will regard the controversy as "unfinished business."
"Dr Mahathir must apologise sooner or later or this issue will drag on, and remain as unfinished business.
"We will not stop. We are starting a movement and we will find a way to meet Dr Mahathir to send our letter of protest for him to apologise.
"He needs to stop making stupid statements that disrupts the harmony in Johor and Malaysia," said Abdullah in a press conference at LC Catering, Jalan Tebrau here today.
He was commenting on a controversial statement made by Dr Mahathir during the 'Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi' rally organised by Pakatan Harapan in Petaling Jaya, Selangor on Oct 14.
Dr Mahathir, who is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) chairman, allegedly said that Malaysia was led by a prime minister who descended from Bugis pirates.
Despite earning the wrath of many Bugis groups, Dr Mahathir denied having said such a thing and claimed his statement was only referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Abdullah said that Gabung Johor lodged a police report against Dr Mahathir's controversial statement on Oct 18, after seven police reports were lodged by members of the Johor Bugis Association.
"What Dr Mahathir said was unacceptable. Is he devoid of good behaviour and morality?
"If Dr Mahathir maintains his stand not to apologise, we will continue with our movement which includes a peaceful protest at a national level and involving people in the Malay archipelago such as the Bugis associations in Makassar, Indonesia," said Abdullah.
He said that Dr Mahathir's recent outburst was not the first time the former prime minister had belittled a community that was related to Johor.
"Before this, Gabung Johor protested his accusations against the development in Johor.
"We have made many police reports about him, including the latest one on Oct 18. We feel that Dr Mahathir made a seditious remark meant to scare the people and to depict the failure of the current government.
"He must retract the statement because it not only affects the Bugis in Malaysia but also the Bugis in other countries," said Abdullah.