KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi believed that non-Malays would not have to wait long to become the Prime Minister if the Malay leadership is immature.
He said that trust will continue to be given to the Malays to become the Prime Minister as long as the Malay leader possesses strength as a leader.
"The key secret is maturity, wisdom, and leadership. That is the key. As long as Malay leaders are fair, inclusive, mature and wise, other ethnic groups will continue to trust Malays to be the Prime Minister.
"If the Malay leadership is supported by those who are immature and unwise, then non-Malays do not need to wait another 100 years to become the Prime Minister," he said in a statement on his Facebook today.
Previously, Bersatu Youth Chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal suggested that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should amend the Constitution to allow only Malays to hold the post.
This follows the statement by DAP veteran politician Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang regarding the "Malaysian Dream" he said to Malaysian students in the United Kingdom on Nov 29, mentioning "there are no restrictions in the Constitution for non-Malays to become the Prime Minister."
The former DAP chairman stated that the nation's Constitution in 1957 or after its amendment in 1963 when Malaysia was formed, along with the Rukun Negara, Wawasan 2020 and its nine strategic challenges, promised the "Malaysian Dream."
He said that this dream celebrates ethnic, religious and cultural diversity rather than advocating a dream for any one ethnic group.
Puad considered the demand to amend the Federal Constitution unwise to retain a Malay Prime Minister.
"Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders take the opportunity to reignite the issue of a non-Malay Prime Minister played by Lim Kit Siang.
"There is no need to amend the country's Constitution. Malaysia has been independent for 66 years. Malays will remain as Prime Minister," he said.
He added that Malaysia does not need to replicate the political situation in Fiji, which resulted in the overthrow of Prime Minister Mahendra Choudhry by General Sitiveni Rabuka in 2000 for ethnic political reasons.
"Mahendra Choudhry, a minority Indian ethnic, was once the Prime Minister of Fiji. His party won the elections. General Rabuka carried out a coup d'etat so that the ethnic Fijians could reclaim the position of Prime Minister.
"Is such unwise politics to be emulated?
"PN does not need to play this issue to gain Malay support. Let us forget the 'tebuk atap' or 'langkah' method. That is also a kind of coup d'etat," he said.