{"id":512,"date":"2009-06-26T00:39:39","date_gmt":"2009-06-25T16:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buletinonline.net\/v7\/index.php\/2009\/06\/bn-component-parties-split-over-meaning-of-unity-government\/"},"modified":"2009-06-26T00:39:39","modified_gmt":"2009-06-25T16:39:39","slug":"bn-component-parties-split-over-meaning-of-unity-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/bn-component-parties-split-over-meaning-of-unity-government\/","title":{"rendered":"BN component parties split over meaning of \u2018unity government\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Their boss may be selling the 1 Malaysia concept but other Barisan leaders have many different ideas about his take on unity.<\/font> <\/p>\n

In response to the prime minister\u2019s call to PAS to reconsider unity talks for the sake of Malay-Muslim unity, MCA leaders said any talk about unity should be based on national and not racial interests.<\/font><\/p>\n

But some MIC leaders believe that there is nothing wrong with Najib\u2019s and Umno\u2019s intentions, arguing that unity among the majority race is integral in ensuring the country\u2019s growth.<\/font><\/p>\n

Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday seemed to resuscitate the whole unity government idea when he called on the Islamist party to forget their political differences and co-operate with Umno in the name of Malay-Muslim unity.<\/font><\/p>\n

Umno has, however, rejected any notion of a multi-racial Pakatan Rakyat(PR)-Barisan Nasional (BN) unity government, saying that it was interested in engaging only with PAS, sparking concerns among its non-Malay allies.<\/font><\/p>\n

MCA leaders like Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, the party\u2019s vice president, did not want to comment on Najib\u2019s statement but said that any form of unity talks should be based on pluralism.<\/font><\/p>\n

Liow, who is also the Health Minister, said the unity government concept itself, first proposed by a faction in PAS, is vague, and unclear as to whether the unity government idea involved only PAS and Umno, or the entire PR-BN lot.<\/font><\/p>\n

Backing him is Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong, the MCA Youth chief, who said that his party had never thought of engaging rivals, the DAP, about Chinese unity.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat for? I believe MCA\u2019s stand about this is clear from the beginning. Any engagement with any quarters should be of national and not racial interest,\u201d he told The Malaysian Insider in Parliament today.<\/font><\/p>\n

But as far as MIC is concerned, the racial undertone in the unity government idea is not something to be worried about.<\/font><\/p>\n

Its information chief, Datuk M. Saravanan, said the country is not prepared for national unity given its young age, arguing that unity among the majority race superceded other issues.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cI totally agree with Najib. It is important for the majority to be united and the minority divided as the majority is at the forefront of the country\u2019s development,\u201d he said.<\/font><\/p>\n

For Saravanan, a deputy Federal Territories minister, the country is not ready for a Bangsa Malaysia (Malaysian race).<\/font><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum, the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) MP for Julau, is fully supportive of Najib\u2019s calls for Malay and Muslim unity to pave the way for 1 Malaysia.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cMy view is that there is nothing wrong with any group wanting to be united,\u201d Salang told The Malaysian Insider today.<\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are against is if they unite to suppress others,\u201d he added.<\/font><\/p>\n

He disagrees with Lim Kit Siang\u2019s view that Malay-Muslim unity talks between Umno and PAS, if it takes place, will stunt Najib\u2019s goal of closing the growing gap among the different races and religious groups.<\/font><\/p>\n

The PRS information chief said that for national unity to happen, the people within the same religious and ethnic groups must first be united – MalaysianInsider
<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Their boss may be selling the 1 Malaysia concept but other Barisan leaders have many different ideas about his take on unity. In response to the prime minister\u2019s call to PAS to reconsider unity talks for the sake of Malay-Muslim unity, MCA leaders said any talk about unity should be based on national and not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"better_featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}