Is there any Senator from MCA or other BN component party who dare to stand up in Senate before it ends tomorrow to remind Najib and Hishammuddin  that the nation’s forefathers, including the first three Prime Ministers, rejected Malaysia as an Islamic state as they were fully committed to the nation as a secular nation with Islam as the official religion?

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Media Statement        
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Monday): Will  MCA Ministers demand in  Cabinet on Wednesday the  retraction of Internal Security Ministry Publications Control and Al-Quran Texts Unit  “ban” to allow for responsible debate of Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najiib Razak’s “717 Declaration” that  “Malaysia is Islamic state and was never a secular state” especially when it is undemocratic, unauthorized  and clear abuse of power? 

It is shocking that in the past five days, MCA Ministers and leaders regard the “ban” as emanating from the most lawful and highest authority, while no one in the UMNO and UMNO Youth paid any heed to the so-called “ban” whatsoever – explaining the warning by the Umno Youth leader, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to MCA leaders to “shut up” and stop making statements of Malaysia being a secular state as well speeches and statements by others including the Umno Youth deputy leader Khairy Jamaluddin and Umno Information chief, Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib giving their distorted version of the Merdeka constitution and  “social contract”. 

It is most unfortunate that the Dewan Rakyat is not in session when Najib made his highly controversial and divisive “717 Declaration” which had no constitutional basis whatsoever, or DAP MPs would have rectified the distortion and rewriting of constitutional history and developments in Parliament immediately. 

The Dewan Negara is in session but no Senator whether from MCA or any other Barisan Nasional component party has the conviction or gumption to stand up in the Senate to question the legality of the “ban” and to demand to know who had issued and authorized the directive but also to put on record the true history and constitutional basis of Malaysian nation-building. 

Is there any Senator from MCA or any other Barisan Nasional component party who dares to stand up in Senate before it ends tomorrow evening to remind Najib and Hishammuddin and to put fully and squarely on record that the nation’s forefathers, including the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn rejected Malaysia as an Islamic state as they were fully committed to the fundamental nation-building principle of Malaysia as a democratic, secular multi-religious nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic state?

(23/7/2007)