NAZRI Aziz’s comments to voters in Semenyih over the weekend were as appalling as they were surprising, said his critics.

“Nazri’s speech in Semenyih is appalling and unacceptable. And surprising. I may disagree with many of his statements but I have never thought of him as racist,” said prominent activist Ambiga Sreenevasan.

“So, this is just politics, which is worse,” said the former Malaysian Bar president.

At a ceramah in Beranang, Semenyih, on Saturday night, Nazri had reportedly accused the Pakatan Harapan government of being weak and surrendering the rights of the Malays to other races. He is now being investigated for sedition.

Ambiga, who was also former president of electoral reform group Bersih 2.0, said Nazri’s justification that he was merely voicing the sentiments of the Malay people was equally unacceptable.

“If it is true that this is the sentiment, then it is incumbent on Nazri as an MP to correct this erroneous perception and not play to it. The opposition needs to decide: are they interested in fostering unity or creating divisions?”

Bersih chairman Thomas Fann said Nazri was being both “racist and slanderous” in his comments on the tragic death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim by alluding to a miscarriage of justice because Attorney-General Tommy Thomas was sympathetic to suspects of the same race as him.

“One can only conclude that Nazri is not ignorant of the law but is malicious in sowing discord among Malaysians when he uttered those racist remarks,” Thomas told The Malaysian Insight.

“It is most regretful that politicians such as him would resort to hate speech to win votes. His claim that he was merely conveying the people’s concerns are cowardly and dishonest, and if such excuses are accepted, then all such hate speech are mere reporting of how some people feel.”

Lawyers for Liberty had earlier condemned Nazri’s claim that Malays did not want a non-Malay to be attorney-general.

“While claiming to be champions of the Malays, Nazri and Umno are in fact slandering the Malays by portraying them as intolerant and racist,” its executive director, Latheefa Koya, had said, calling the former law minister’s comments an “outrageous insult” to all Malays.

“It is a cheap and dangerous way to score political points in the run-up to the Semenyih by-election,” she said.

Nazri was yesterday questioned by police and today, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun confirmed the Padang Rengas MP was being investigated under the Sedition Act.

In his ceramah speech, Nazri had said the Pakatan Harapan government was “surrendering” the rights of the Malays to other races.

When speaking about Adib, the former senior minister had said: “Take, for example, the attorney-general. Everyone said Adib was sacrificed. We ask why no charges were brought against the people who were arrested for allegedly assaulting Adib back then. No one has been charged.

“People can see that the attorney-general and the suspects have the same skin colour, so don’t blame the Malays if they think the attorney-general is not being fair,” Nazri had said.

DAP leader and former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said Nazri’s views were not surprising, and pointed to the hesitancy of several PH leaders in putting in place anti-discrimination laws as the reason such comments continue to be used for political mileage.

“The difference between Nazri and PH leaders is only presentation. Most Malay leaders are fearful of doing the right thing, because they fear losing votes. Malays are being used all the time,” said Zaid.

“If PH leaders are different from Nazri, why not ratify ICERD when we had told the whole world we would?” he said, referring to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

On Monday, Human Right Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) chairman Razali Ismail had said Putrajaya must look into ratifying the anti-discrimination convention so that “outdated views”, such as those made by Nazri, could be curbed.

He added that the racist remarks were meant to incite discontent in a bid to win votes in the Semenyih by-election. – February 26, 2019.