KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Amanah Negara vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa has asked former defence minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to elaborate on the latter’s Malay unity idea.
In an interview with the New Sunday Times recently, Mujahid said if Hishammuddin’s idea matched Pakatan Harapan’s standpoint, the ruling party could work with the former Umno vice-president.
“If he (Hishammuddin) is referring to the fact that the Malays are the main factor in uniting the people of this country, then he could be right.
“If his idea comes together with what we (PH) are doing, then I think, for the sake of Malaysia Baru (New Malaysia), we could share whatever idea he has.
“But I would suggest that Hishammuddin elaborate on his idea,” he said.
Mujahid said he would reject Hishammuddin’s suggestion if it revolved around creating Malay supremacy or birthing corrupt Malay leaders.
He said he was also against the notion that uniting Malaysians under the Bangsa Malaysia concept should first start with uniting the Malay parties.
“You cannot generalise by saying that if all Malay parties are united, only then we can talk about Bangsa Malaysia.”
The minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) suggested that the first step that should be taken instead was neutralising corrupt practices that had been infecting the “one Malay party”, a veiled reference to Umno.
He said only by addressing corruption among Malay leaders could the community earn respect from all other races.
This, he added, would be more important than believing that the Malays were the main factor in uniting all Malaysians.
“The question is, what sort of Malays are we (uniting) in order to unite the whole (Malaysians)? We (PH) came a long way to tell the people that we are not against the Malays or Chinese or Indians.
“We are just going against corrupt Malays, corrupt Chinese and corrupt Indians. Our struggle is to go against corruption,” he said.
On Oct 14, NST published a letter penned by Hishammuddin where he shared his thoughts on the importance of unification, which must first be championed by political leaders.
He stressed the need for leaders to be courageous and set their emotions aside.
Talks on the unification of Malay parties began recently, particularly after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad made the call for others to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia to unite the Malays.
Dr Mahathir said the community was becoming fragmented due to the presence of too many Malay-based parties, which would make electoral success more elusive.
Although his statement had received criticism, Hishammuddin cautioned Malay-based parties against taking an arrogant view of Dr Mahathir’s call to unite.
In a news report on the same date, the New Straits Times also quoted Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Red- zuan Yusof as saying that he had proposed for Hishammuddin to have Bangsa Malaysia led by the Malays, to which the latter agreed.
The next day, the PH Secretarial Council issued a statement urging Hishammuddin to stop his campaign for a new government without DAP and Amanah.
Hishammuddin said he was taken aback by the accusations and refuted allegations that he had a role in attempts to destabilise the ruling coalition.
“Where have I said in my writings that we want to sideline DAP and Amanah? Where did I talk about racial politics? I’m talking about unity,” he said on Wednesday.