Kota Kinabalu: Former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh said any changes to Malaysia as a nation requires the support of two-thirds of the 222 Members of Parliament or 150 MPs.
“Parliament is the highest authority in Malaysia. Therefore, the three so-called extremists (by MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau referring to Tun Dr Mahathir, Tan Sri Hadi Awang and Datuk Seri Mohd Sanusi) will never and ever change the structure of Malaysia.
In this sense, Harris said he failed to see how Tangau could reach a conclusion that these three Malayan leaders constitute a threat to the extent that they can change the fabric of Malaysia.
“As such, it is not a threat to Sabahans. Sabahans should continue with their lives and pay no attention to statements from Sabah leaders who are disconnected from reality,” he said.
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Harris said Tangau should mention in Parliament the existence of Malay extremists and that one of them is actually a Member of Parliament (Hadi) given that Parliament is the highest authority in Malaysia.
He was commenting on Tangau’s recent statement where he accused the three Malay leaders of being “extremists” who want to restructure Malaysia to Tanah Melayu Malaysia.
Tangau had also said that the founding fathers would never have agreed to Sabah and Sarawak forming Malaysia if the intention was for Malaya to replace Britain as the new colonisers and for both the Bornean states to belong to Peninsular’s Malays.
“‘Extremist’ in many countries is synonymous with “terrorism”. Tangau warns Sabahans to beware of Dr Mahathir, Abdul Hadi and Sanusi.
“Tangau in posturing this conspiracy has made no police report and should instead raise the matter in Parliament.
“It appears that Tangau only made the allegations and accusations to the media and without any substance or qualification to his statement, Sabahans should not take Tangau’s warnings as a threat,” he said, in a statement.
Harris claimed that to his understanding, the three Malay leaders were responding to claims that “Tanah Melayu” does not belong to Malays but a multi-racial country.
“The so-called extremist leaders are merely reminding others that ‘Tanah Melayu is Tanah Melayu’. Melayu have no other ‘Tanah’. Tanah Melayu is the historical name even the British maintained as having nine states.
“In their eagerness to develop London, the British established rubber plantations and tin mines in Tanah Melayu and recruited tens and thousands of Indian and Chinese workers.
The Malays acknowledged the nation’s newfound multiracial character and were content to retain the name ‘Tanah Melayu’,” he added.
Nevertheless, Harris acknowledged that in a parliamentary democracy like Malaysia, if the three “extremists” get the support of 150 Members of Parliament, it is possible to change the structure of Malaysia and nobody including Tangau could do anything about it.
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