Ibrahim feels Nurul Izzah is too young and should focus on her dad's sodomy trial instead.
The Lembah Pantai MP wrote in The Malaysian Insider today that Perkasa’s idea of “Malay rights” was a mere ideological and philosophical construct which was not rooted in the Constitution, and invited them to a debate.
In response, Perkasa claimed today that the special positions of the Malays could not be questioned or even debated on, therefore refusing any invitation for an open dialogue.
“She is a young kid that does not know or appreciate the history and meaning of the fight towards independence...so inexperienced and yet she is already auctioning the pride of her own race.
“My fight is with her father, not her. She is small fry,” Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali told The Malaysian Insider via text message.
Ibrahim dismissed Nurul’s arguments, and instead told her to focus on her father’s (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) Sodomy II trial.
“This is too small an issue, ask her to focus on her father’s sodomy case, or debate with the Wiranita chief. Is her father’s trial really a conspiracy?” said Ibrahim.
Perkasa Wiranita (Women’s Wing) chief Raihan Sulaiman Palestine echoed Ibrahim’s sentiments, stressing that Article 153 of the Federal Constitution was clear in according Malays special rights.
“Lately there have been a lot of questions, a lot of arguments against Article 153. How can this be? You cannot have a debate on something that is expressively stated within the Constitution.
“Even in Parliament, you have to get more than two-thirds agreement to change or even talk about the constitution, and she (Nurul) wants to have a public debate on it? What the Malays deserve, what they are entitled to is there in black and white,” said Raihan.
Raihan told The Malaysian Insider that Perkasa would go out of its way to ensure that no one questioned any provisions within the Federal Constitution that guaranteed Malays their “rights and privileges.”
“We will do everything and anything we can within the Federal Constitution to protect Malay rights...And if Nurul Izzah cannot understand this, swallow it. This is the reality,” said Raihan.
Nurul said that it was important to note that the Reid Commission, which drafted the constitution, had seen Article 153 as temporary measure, subject to review after 15 years by Parliament, before it was institutionalised into the NEP following the 1969 race riots.
Arguing that Malaysia was at a “monumental cross-road”, Nurul hammered home the point that it ultimately came down to the people to decide if Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) or Ketuanan Rakyat (people’s supremacy) was going to define Malaysia.
“Once the next general election outcome is determined, and if ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ is victorious, then some may choose to vote with their feet (emigrate with massive brain drain and a diminishing tax base), and some will choose to vote with their wallet (domestic capital flight compounded with decreasing FDI that further stunts our economic growth), which in turn will indicate the makings of a potential failed state with irreversible consequences,” she warned.
“What is left will be a shell of a former Malaysia that could have been a great example of a democratic and pluralistic nation to the world.”
Malay rights groups like Perkasa as well as the Malay Consultative Council (MPM) have been increasingly vocal in their racial rhetoric in arguing for maintaining the pro-Bumiputera New Economic Policy (NEP).
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also thrown his weight behind Perkasa, allaying fears of a revolution if the economic disparities between the Bumiputeras and the non-Bumiputeras were not dealt with.
Dr Mahathir has maintained that the NEP needed to be retained indefinitely in order for Bumiputeras to be successful.
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