.png)
KANGAR – A senior Perikatan Nasional (PN) leader has defended Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor over allegations that the latter's remarks were racist, claiming the statement had been misinterpreted and distorted by certain parties.
PN Perlis chairman Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said it was unreasonable to accuse Sanusi of making racist remarks, as PN receives support from various communities, including Chinese, Indian and Siamese voters.
“Surely Sanusi would not make racist remarks. He is not someone who is uneducated.
“We have Chinese, Indian and other ethnic voters, including the Siamese community,” he said in a video uploaded on his social media account on Monday.
Shahidan, who is also a Pas Central Committee member said the multi-racial communities in PN-administered states live in a peaceful and harmonious environment without any issues.
He said in Perlis, about 85 per cent of the population are Bumiputera, while around 10 per cent are Chinese, with the remainder comprising the Indian community.
“In Perlis, we live peacefully and harmoniously, there are no issues. In Kedah too, Indians and Chinese live peacefully.
“The same goes for Kelantan, which is often discussed. Chinese communities and Buddhists live peacefully there. The large reclining Buddha statue is also located in Kelantan. Has the state government ever interfered or taken action against it?” he said.
The Arau MP said Sanusi’s speech was merely referring to the fact that every race in the world has its own country, and was not a call for any community to leave Malaysia as alleged.
“He mentioned that nations around the world have their own countries. So, we are all Malaysians and our country is Malaysia. Do not twist the statement,” he said.
Shahidan also claimed that he found that Sanusi's statement did not contain any intention to insult or reject any community.
“I watched his speech myself. There is nothing wrong with Malays uniting, nothing wrong with Chinese uniting, nothing wrong with Indians uniting. What matters is that we all live in peace and harmony,” he said.
Earlier, Sinar reported that PKR Selangor Election Director Dr Sathia Prakash Nadarajan acknowledged there was an error when he repeated Sanusi’s speech using the word ‘balik’ (return).
However, he said the matter did not affect the basis of the police report lodged against the Kedah Menteri Besar over the speech, which was alleged to have the potential to incite racial sentiments.
Previously, Pas Youth chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden also accused Dr Sathia of manipulating Sanusi’s speech and demanded that he retract his statement and issue an open apology.
Following the controversy, several police reports were lodged against Dr Sathia to allow investigations to be carried out.
