ALOR STAR: DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has shown his true colours by saying that the Federal Constitution does not bar non-Malay to be a prime minister, said Umno supreme council member Datuk Hasmuni Hassan.
Hasmuni said Lim's speech at a programme in England did not bode well for the current situation.
Lim should instead show respect to the Malays, with Umno being part of the unity government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"Apparently, Lim did not learn from history in respecting the relationship between parties in the unity government.
"(His) speech in 'Malaysian Dream' in November has offended the Malays in Malaysia," he said in a statement today.
Hasmuni said Lim claimed that the Federal Constitution did not bar the non-Malays in becoming a prime minister, and cynically said that Malaysia did not need to wait 230 years to see a non-Malay to become one.
He said Lim continued to show DAP's racist behaviour.
"In a country with Malays as the majority population, Lim continued to burn the unity bridge after Tony Pua played with fire with his remarks a few months ago," he said.
Such statements will only upset many and drive a wedge between the people, he said.
Lim, a former DAP secretary-general and national chairman, said at an event in the United Kingdom that the constitution, Rukun Negara, and Vision 2020 all provided for a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and multi-cultural Malaysian Dream, rather than a mono-ethnic dream.
"This is best illustrated by the fact that the Malaysian Constitution provides that a non-Malay can be a PM.
"In the US (United States), it took 230 years for a Black American to become the president.
"I hope that Malaysia will not take 230 years for a non-Malay to become a PM but in the next 100 years, I do not expect this to happen," he was quoted as saying in online news reports.