Tuaran, Jan 8- Another former MP from Sabah has called on the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to provide leadership in easing religious tensions in the country.
Movement for Change Sabah president, Wilfred Bumburing, said Najib’s performance in the on-going Christian-Muslim face-off was catastrophic and shows a complete lack of common sense.
“The prime Minister’s silence on the matter is deafening, leaving it to National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) to study the matter and make a recommendation to the cabinet in six months.
“Why six months to tackle a dangerous situation?” asked its president Wilfred Bumburing, who added that whatever the NUCC proposes, Najib’s cabinet still had to endorse it.
The former BN member and MP who founded the NGO, better known by its Malay acronym APS, said Najib had failed to honour his own 10-point solution announced before the election.
He said this raised the question as to whether what was announced then was an campaign gimmick prior to 13th general election which the BN coalition government had no intention to honour.
“We welcome the stand taken by the NUCC that the action taken by Selangor Jais is against the 10-points solution, but it did not take a stand whether the action was wrong.
“I disagree with the analogy of the NUCC of ‘a father (arbitrating) over his sons’. When one son is wrong, he must be appropriately reprimanded, otherwise the other will not be vindicated,” he said.
Sabah and Sarawak ignored
Bumburing stressed that the NUCC is to recommend a formula to the government that would foster unity and avoid action by any quarter who may take advantage of loopholes in the laws of the country.
“The NUCC meets only after controversies happen, which renders it as a mere fire-fighting body. Even then the fire-fighting tools can only be used at the pleasure of the cabinet,” he said.
Bumburing also criticised the NUCC for ignoring members from Sabah and Sarawak as well as the makeup of the council.
On the decree by the Sultan of Selangor prohibiting the use of the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Bible, Bumburing said while there was no question about the sultan being above all races in his state, he was not above the constitution of the country.
He said the raid by the Jais had sparked intense debate on points of law with regard to the authority and power of the people and the institutions in the country.
“The only way to settle this is in the courts as the aggrieved party seems to have no recourse. The police seem unsure of their role … whether to protect the citizens or assist in questionable raids.
“The Home Minister’s statement did not augur well for the neutrality of the police. I believe that the police as a whole languish when they are put under the behest of the Home Minister,” he added.
“The illegal raid is a blatant act of persecution of the Christian community. This aggression negates all past efforts to unify the cosmopolitan population of the country as promised by the founding fathers.
“The people are looking for leadership that can ensure that they can live in peace and harmony as promised by the signatories of the Malaysia Agreement 1963,” said Bumburing.
-Free Malaysia Today
