Kita: Give PM post to East M’sian

A Kita leader says the time has come for Umno to stop monopolising the PM post.

KLANG: Umno must allow a bumiputera from East Malaysia to become prime minister, said Kita leader KS Kottapan.

According to him, the time had come for Umno to relinquish its hold on the top post.

Kottapan was responding to Perkasa women’s chief Zaira Jafaar who argued that Malaysia’s prime minister must be a Malay-Muslim.

The issue arose after the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia published a report alleging that opposition party DAP and Christian leaders were conspiring to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia and to install a Christian prime minister. Both DAP and the Christian leaders had denied this.

Meanwhile, Kottapan said since the Federal Constitution did not specify that the prime minister must be a Malay, East Malaysians had all the rights to assume the post.

“Umno which monopolised the prime minister’s post for the last 54 years, has failed to develop the country,” he told FMT.

“Umno hijacked the wealth of Sabah and Sarawak but refuses to assist in the economic development of the two states,” he added.

Kottapan said with an East Malaysian as prime minister, both Sabah and Sarawak, which were among the poorest states despite being rich in natural resources, would benefit.

Implement rotation system as well

Furthermore, he added, Umno must acknowledge that it was the voters in Sabah and Sarawak who rescued Barisan Nasional in the last general election.

During the 2008 polls, BN only won 83 out of the 163 parliamentary seats contested in peninsular Malaysia.

“In Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, BN won 57 of the 59 parliamentary seats, and it was this which allowed them to remain in power with a simple majority,” said Kottapan.

He said Umno, which had agreed to rotating the Sabah chief minister post, should also introduce a similar formula for the prime minister’s post.

The Kita leader also dismissed the notion that Malay rights would erode if a non-Malay became prime minister.

“This is stupid. To my knowledge, since independence, the health minister has been a Chinese, does this mean those from the other communities will fall sick for not getting the post,” he said.

Kottapan said Malaysia had a Sultanate system and this would ensure that the interests of the Malays were safeguarded.

Kita is helmed by former PKR man Zaid Ibrahim. Zaid, who was also formerly from Umno and an-cabinet member, had left PKR after falling out with its leaders.