SARAWAK’s Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice-president Abdul Karim Hamzah called Dr Mahathir Mohamad “crazy” for saying promoting Malaysia as a multi-ethnic country is unconstitutional. 

Karim said he does not believe the state’s ruling coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), could ever work with Dr Mahathir or the likes of him again.

“I have high regard for Dr Mahathir. He was our prime minister not once, but twice.

“But when he says Malaysia is not a multiracial country and it cannot be promoted as a multiracial country, I’m asking if he’s okay or not,” he said.

Karim said Dr Mahathir espousing such an opinion reflects badly on himself. 

“What kind of crazy opinion is that?” he demanded when asked by reporters if the four-party coalition of PBB, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Sarawak United People’s Party and Progressive Democratic Party would work with Dr Mahathir and his political supporters.

“How to work with somebody like that when the kind of statement you make doesn’t augur well with the majority of Malaysians?”

Karim said when Dr Mahathir stepped down amid the political crisis triggered by the Sheraton Move, he should have retired and become an elder statesman.

“He should not (have) come back to politics. He should have stayed put and left the politics to those he had groomed.

“That is how it should be. Don’t come back and start going against those you have groomed.”

The reaction to Dr Mahathir’s claim was palpable in Sarawak and Sabah. 

Yesterday, Sabah’s Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau said Dr Mahathir’s claim was an insult to Malaysians in the two Bornean states.

The former United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation president said Dr Mahathir’s attacks on multiculturalism and secularism revealed the “malicious mind of a Malayan imperialist and colonialist” who sees Sabah and Sarawak as “colonial possessions of Malayan Malays”.

Tangau, who reminded Dr Mahathir of the social contract agreed upon in 1963, said by insulting Sabahans and Sarawakians as “subjects of Malayan imperialism and colonialism”, Dr Mahathir is declaring war on the very idea of Malaysia. 

Former Sabah assemblyman James Ligunjang said Tangau’s strong statement “sheds light on the importance of embracing and preserving the multiracial character of Malaysia, particularly emphasising the insult felt by East Malaysians”.

“Tangau’s arguments eloquently articulate concerns about Mahathir’s attacks on multiculturalism and secularism, which he sees as reflective of a malicious mind of a Malayan imperialist and colonialist.”

PRS deputy information chief Andy Lawrence said Dr Mahathir is beginning to lose touch with reality.

Lawrence asked Dr Mahathir if he remembers promoting a multiracial Malaysia in his 2019 Chinese New Year message.

“The federal constitution enshrines the right to equality under article 8. This provision guarantees all individuals are equal before law and prohibits discrimination based on race, religion or creed.

“Promoting a multiracial Malaysia can be seen as upholding this constitutional right to equality,” Lawrence said. – July 5, 2023.