Nazri draws praise for daring to say he's Malaysian first

Nazri draws praise for daring to say he's Malaysian first

Nazri Aziz

KUALA LUMPUR (Harakahdaily) - Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz has become the first cabinet minister to declare that he was "Malaysian first, Malay second", earning praise from DAP leaders.

“And yes I am a Malaysian first and Malay next. Does any bigot have a problem with that?” retorted Nazri in a response to a stinging criticism of him by right wing group Perkasa's mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia in its weekend editorial.

The Malay daily hit out at Nazri over his criticism of the UMNO offshoot and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Nazri, saying prime minister Najib Razak's 1Malaysia concept should be made successful, had earlier described both Perkasa and Mahathir as "has-beens", saying the former made up of people "who failed to get positions in the party (UMNO".

Nazri also said the Malay daily's columnist should instead focus on how to increase the paper’s "dwindling readership".

In an immediate reaction, DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang hailed Nazri.

“Congrats Nazri for being the first minister to declare he is Malaysian first, Malay second, six months after I challenged Ministers to declare (their) stand in Parliament.

"Who will be the second minister to declare Malaysian first, race second which is objective of Najib's 1Malaysia?” Lim asked.

The Ipoh Timur member of parliament also suggested that all Barisan Nasional ministers declare their stand or be dropped from the cabinet.

“With Nazri's stand (that) he is Malaysian 1st, Malay 2nd, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah and Sarawak ministers should rush in to declare themselves or be dropped from Cabinet,” he posted on Twitter.

Echoing his father, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng also congratulated Nazri, but said the top two leaders in UMNO had yet to declare their stand, referring to Najib and his deputy Muhyiddin Yasin, who earlier this year had said he was Malay first.

Meanwhile, UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin appeared pleased with Nazri for his condemnation of Perkasa, but warned Nazri to prepare for condemnations.

“Someone has a bigger death wish than me,” exclaimed Khairy, who has been locked in a war of words with Perkasa and Utusan.

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