(Bukit Mertajam, Tuesday): Yesterday,
the DAP launched a people’s
awareness campaign to call on the people
of Penang to lead Malaysians to say “No to 911” and “No to 929” to save
the country from terrorism and extremism of
any form as well as to preserve the
1957 Merdeka Constitution “social contract” that Malaysia is a democratic,
secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive nation with
Islam as the official religion but Malaysia is not an Islamic state.
Today,
we are taking this campaign to the first parliamentary constituency in Bukit
Mertajam, and in the next few days, we will take this campaign to the other
parliamentary constituencies in Penang.
I
have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political party,
would want to uphold the 1957 Merdeka Constitution “social contract”
solemnly agreed by our forefathers from the major communities that Malaysia
shall forever be a democratic,
secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive nation
with Islam as the official religion and do not want Malaysia to become
an Islamic state.
At
present, however, 99 per cent of the people of Penang and Malaysia do not know
what is “929” or why saying “No to 929”
in the next general election is one of the most critical decisions of the
people in the 44-year history of the nation - although more people
know what is “911” and support saying “No to 911”.
In short, 99 per cent of the people in the country are not aware that the
country is facing the second great nation-building crisis since Merdeka in 1957
- the attempt to jettison the 1957 Merdeka “social contract” to establish an
Islamic state in Malaysia.
Malaysia
has so far successfully faced the first great nation-building crisis - the
attempt to create a Malaysian nation in a plural society by assimilation when it
should be by integration - but the odds against successfully facing the second
great nation-building crisis are very
much more formidable because of the
shortness of time and the pervasive
lack of the sense of crisis among
the people on this issue.
This
is the reason for the “No to 911, No to 929” People Awareness Campaign so
that the voters will know, once Parliament and the State Assemblies are
dissolved, that the time has come for them to say “No to 911, No to 929” in
the ballot boxes to save the country from extremism and terrorism as well as
uphold the 1957 “social contract” and Merdeka Constitution.
Two
days ago, Penang Chief Minister and Gerakan vice president Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu
Koon blamed the DAP for the 929 declaration by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at the Gerakan national delegates conference on Sept. 29
last year that Malaysia was an
Islamic State - and which was immediately given full endorsement by the top
Gerakan leadership!
Speaking
at the Bagan Gerakan AGM in Butterworth on Sunday, Koh said that instead of
accusing the Gerakan and MCA for endorsing Mahathir’s 929 declaration, DAP
must be held responsible for PAS more than trebling its parliamentary strength
from eight to 27 MPs in the last general election.
This
is a very dishonest, irresponsible and illogical attempt by Gerakan to
disclaim responsibility for endorsing Mahathir’s 929 declaration of Malaysia
as an Islamic state - by pushing the blame to DAP for co-operating and causing
PAS to win 27 parliamentary seats.
The
27 parliamentary seats won by PAS were10 from Kelantan, seven from Terengganu,
eight from Kedah and two from Perak. Is
Tsu Koon seriously suggesting that DAP was responsible for the victories of the PAS parliamentary seats
in the Malay heartland where the Malay voter majorities were invariably
over 95 per cent as in Kelantan and Terengganu?
If
so, then Tsu Koon is publicly crediting the DAP as having greater
influence over the Malays in the East Coast than even Mahathir’s UMNO,
which Mahathir and the UMNO leaders should take serious note!
Instead
of trying to shift blame to the DAP for the irresponsible Gerakan
support for Mahathir’s 929 declaration, Tsu Koon should publicly concede that
if the DAP had won 30
to 35 Parliamentary seats in the 1999 general election, with the Barisan
Nasional losing its
two-thirds parliamentary majority and a more balanced multi-racial Opposition in Parliament, Mahathir would not have the
conditions to make the 929
declaration of Malaysia as an Islamic state.
A
week before the nomination day of the
1999 general election, I had forecast that with the DAP’s participation in the
Barisan Alternative, the DAP could either win big or lose big - i.e. winning 30
to 35 parliamentary seats or performing even worse than the 1995 general
election result of nine seats.
I
said the DAP would win big
if the voters addressed the
real issues at stake in the 1999 general election - the unprecedented
opportunity of breaking the Barisan Nasional political hegemony although
Mahathir would continue as Prime Minister by ending its uninterrupted two-thirds
parliamentary majority to restore justice,
freedom, democracy and good governance in the country.
The
DAP would lose big however if the
voters were confused, deflected and misled by the Barisan Nasional campaign of
threats and falsehoods into believing that a vote for DAP was a vote for PAS and
an Islamic state without pork,
alcohol, temples, churches, Chinese schools, etc.
If
apart from the 27 PAS MPs, a strong
phalanx of 30 to 35 DAP MPs were
also elected in the last general election, Mahathir would not have the
conditions to make the 929 declaration of Malaysia as an Islamic state, as he
would have to contend with a strong DAP presence in Parliament apart from a
strong PAS presence.
Mahahtir’s
929 declaration of Malaysia as an Islamic state was one direct consequence of
the weakening of the DAP
parliamentary representation to ten MPs in the last general election, as with
the absence of strong external checks by the DAP, neither Gerakan nor MCA could provide the necessary internal
checks against violations of the
1957 “social contract”, the Merdeka Constitution and the fundamental
nation-building cornerstone of
Malaysia as a democratic, secular, religious, tolerant and progressive nation
with Islam as the official religion or forestall the country lurching
towards Islamic state represented
by the 929 declaration.
This is why the “No to 911” and “No to 929” campaign is so important, as the next general election, expected to be held within 12 months, represents the final chance to mobilise Malaysians to stop the tectonic shift in the nation-building process and to reaffirm the fundamental constitutional principle of Malaysia as a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive nation with Islam as the official religion and not to become an Islamic state.
(7/5/2002)