DAP regrets the harsh and extremist political rhetoric of PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang in Kuching that non-Muslim bumiputeras or a Chinese can not be allowed to rule Sarawak. Hadi is clearly anti non-Muslim when he said that non-Muslim bumiputeras and Chinese can be leaders but both Sabah and Sarawak must be ruled by a Muslim bumiputera.
DAP has never asked that the Sarawak Chief Minister be Chinese, which is puzzling why Hadi is raising the racial bogey of a Chinese Sarawak Chief Minister to frighten voters. However there is no reason why a bumiputera, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, can not be a Sarawak Chief Minister. DAP accepts the reality that the Malaysian Prime Minister must be Malay to reflect that a majority of the population is Malay. Why not accept that a non-Muslim bumiputera can also be a Chief Minister of Sarawak, when they form a majority of the population?
Such anti non-Muslim sentiments by the PAS President is not only divisive but also offensive to non-Muslim bumiputeras, who are the majority population in Sarawak. Why are the non-Muslim bumiputeras disqualified for the highest office of Chief Minister of Sarawak merely because of they are not Muslims? Clearly non-Muslim bumiputeras have a more open heart and Malaysian spirit than Hadi when they can accept a Muslim bumiputera like Tan Sri Adenan Satem as their Chief Minister.
Hadi even went a step further when he said, “The Chinese, the Indians and other races are our leaders too, but they need to be led by a Muslim.” This means that even in Penang, where a clear majority of the population is non-Malay, the Chief Minister can not be a non-Malay. This is contradictory to his previous position in the 2008 and 2013 general elections when he supported a Chinese as Penang Chief Minister.
Clearly Hadi’s close association with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and the racially divisive parties of BN has coloured Hadi’s thinking, until he thinks in terms of BN’s categorization of racial and religious division instead of inter-racial and multi-religious harmony. Despite such extremist and anti non-Muslim sentiments, PAS still seeks to get non-Muslim or non-Malay votes. It is unlikely PAS will ever succeed, when voters identify that a vote for PAS under Hadi is no different from a vote for UMNO under Najib.