Najib: However, it is clear that our approaches are by far very different from those of certain individuals and groups.
Najib said this in a press conference at the Securities Commission this evening after he was asked to explain his silence in the recent move by Umno leaders to snub the Malay rights group.
“No, we do not want to be in conflict with any NGO,” he firmly said.
Najib went further to play down Perkasa’s significance as a pressure group, pointing out that as far as Umno was concerned, Perkasa was just like any other NGO.
“It is just like any other NGO. We have so many NGOs. There are times we can agree, and there are times we cannot agree,” he said.
However, the Prime Minister took pains to stress that at the end of the day, it was Umno that was a part of the government.
“And what Umno says matters,” he said.
He declined to commen on his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s note of caution to Umno that the party could not afford to snub Perkasa as it would likely face further electoral losses.
“No, I do not want to refer specifically to anyone,” he said, and ended the press conference.
In his speech however, Najib repeatedly stressed on the need to remain a moderate society and appeared to take a dig at Perkasa when he defended the government’s intention in redefining affirmative action.
“Since we achieved independence, our leaders and our people, have acted according to principles that are very important — the principles of moderation and balance or equilibrium — in administrating and managing the nation.
“These policies are what brings us to the middle path, and what ensures that the rights and privileges of all races are taken into consideration,” he said.
Najib noted that while the Federal Constitution protected the special position of the Malays and the Bumiputeras, it also protected the rights of other communities.
“However, it is clear that our approaches are by far very different from those of certain individuals and groups.
“For example, if we want to carry out affirmative action. We accept the objectives of it but what is wrong is we redefine affirmative action in the context of society today, in the landscape today, so that we be seen as fairer, more transparent and market-friendly.
“We accept the objective but we are looking at how to achieve that objective in a new and strategic environment,” he said.
“Some people have decided to take narrow-minded views and to be selfish in order to defend their rights.
“When someone is not sensitive to the needs and aspirations of others, the gap of differences that divide the communities would eventually become wider,” he said.
When questioned during the press conference later if he was referring to Perkasa however, Najib was quick to deny this.
“No, no, I am not talking about anyone, Why do you mention Perkasa? I am just talking about times have changed... we have not forgotten the objectives of affirmative action because we want a fair society, a balanced society but we have redefined the mechanics of getting there.
“We should be attuned to the changing times,” he said.
The Najib administration has been struggling in its bid to sell its economic reforms to a sceptical public, and this process continues to be made complicated by political curve balls thrown by Perkasa and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Recently however, leaders aligned to Najib had begun the process of distancing the party from Perkasa because of the group’s controversial and strident views on economic reforms.
Using the Malay rights platform, Perkasa has been a major obstacle in the way of Najib’s economic reforms which he has assured would not be at the expense of Bumiputeras.
But Perkasa, backed by Dr Mahathir, is against any attempt to roll back the quotas associated with Malaysia’s affirmative action policies. - The Malaysian Insider
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