KUALA LUMPUR: The provocative statement made by Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang on the appointment of a non-Malay prime minister is politically immature, says an Umno leader.
Umno Supreme Council Member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said although the Federal Constitution does not explicitly state that the prime minister must be Malay, the same could be said about vernacular schools because it is not something that is provided for under the supreme law of the land.
Puad questioned the reason Lim sensationalised the issue of a non-Malay prime minister.
"He needs to remember that it is thanks to mature Malay politics that the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) and Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) vernacular schools still exist to this day. That is why the race of the Penang Chief Minister is also not an issue.
"There's no issue of constitutionality (in whether a non-Malay can become prime minister). There's no issue of freedom of speech.
"But why is Lim still playing up 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues despite retiring from politics and becoming a Tan Sri? The country needs another 100 years to be politically mature," Puad said in a Facebook post.
He said Lim's statement was unsuitable as the latter had already admitted that he was unconfident about a Chinese becoming prime minister in the next 100 years.
"Lim himself admitted that he did not dream of becoming Prime Minister. He also admitted that he is not sure that in 100 years a Chinese will be the prime minister.
"So let political maturity take place naturally. Not by force. There is no need to bring it up and make it a sensational issue."
Yesterday, police recorded Lim's statement over his article about Malaysia having a non-Malay PM.
Prior to that, Lim had confirmed in a statement that he was summoned by the police over the article on his blog, which he had written while travelling to Manchester in United States on Nov 29.
Lim arrived at the police station at 9.34am yesterday (Nov 13) accompanied by his two children, including Lim Hui Ying, who was yesterday appointed as Deputy Finance Minister.
Investigating officers from the Bukit Aman's Classified Crime Investigation Unit (USJT) recorded Kit Siang's statement at the Sea Park Police Station, SS2.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (Investigation/Legal), deputy director Datuk Rusdi Mohd Isa had also said police started investigating Lim following his article which was uploaded on the limkitsiang.com blog.