THE Malays should fear Najib Razak as their prime minister, not DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, Dr Mahathir said today, noting the party’s record as the Penang government was “not as bad” as Barisan Nasional in the federal government.

He also repeated that an Umno defeat in the next general election would not lead to Lim becoming prime minister, as had been mentioned previously by his successor, Najib.

“Najib’s statement that if Umno loses, then Kit Siang will be prime minister has no basis at all,” the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman wrote in his popular chedet.cc blog today.

“Actually, Najib has already had a military deal with China and a Chinese writer had said that Malacca and Kuantan ports are being developed for use by the Chinese navy with capital of billions of ringgit from Chinese companies.

“Najib and Umno’s victory will tie Malaysia to China, and Malaysia can no longer practise a non-aligned foreign policy as before,” Dr Mahathir said.

Dr Mahathir weighed in on the attacks hurled against DAP, his new ally in the struggle to remove Najib from power. He compared DAP with MCA, Barisan Nasional’s Chinese-based component party. 

DAP, he said, had been repeatedly attacked for being a “Chinese party” and the belief that it only fought for the Chinese. 

Although it had a Chinese majority, the party had a multiracial membership, including various Sabah and Sarawak folk, with the late Karpal Singh serving as national chairman until his death three years ago.

Dr Mahathir also observed that DAP used Bahasa Malaysia in its meetings and party anthem. 

“Strangely, MCA is 100% Chinese and fights only for the Chinese. But it is not rejected by the Malays. MCA has close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, and we reject communism and even fought with communists. But this still did not make MCA the enemy of Umno and the Malays,” he said. 

Dr Mahathir said when he was prime minister, MCA suggested a second deputy prime minister post be created for MCA, and this also did not draw objection from Umno or the Malays. 

“DAP has never asked for the prime minister or deputy prime minister posts. The party itself acknowledged that the Chinese is a minority in Malaysia and that DAP cannot form the federal government even if it won every seat it contests.”

Out of 222 parliamentary seats, only 52 are Chinese-majority seats. 

“Maybe the multiracial Malay-majority parties will give a few seats to non-Malay candidates. 

“But the majority of the three Malay-led parties will field Malay candidates. Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, as a Malay party, will not nominate and support a non-Malay as prime minister. 

“It is not possible for the opposition pact to be dominated by DAP, except in Penang.”

To further debunk the DAP-Chinese domination myth, Dr Mahathir said DAP as a member of Pakatan Harapan had openly said it would defend and support the constitution. 

He said DAP recognised the position of the Malay rulers, Malay and Bumiputera rights and privileges, Bahasa Malaysia as the official language and Islam as the religion of state. – May 3, 2017.