I had occasion to ask publicly last month whether the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is sincerely and seriously committed to Najib’s 1Malaysia concept – whether he is the right-hand man of Najib or former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir as the custodian and surrogate of the Mahathir legacy in the Najib premiership.
I had asked Muhyiddin whether he had Najib’s endorsement and approval for all his utterances and actions which are inimical to the realisation of the 1Malaysia slogan and concept, including:
Let me ask Muhyiddin one question point-blank: Is he aware that the Najib administration’s sincerity and seriousness about 1Malaysia is under great test in Penang – why the 1Malaysia concept is being undermined and compromised in the vicious and sustained exploitation of the race and religious card by Umno media and agents in the conspiracy to defame the Penang Chief Minister and Pakatan Rakyat Penang State Government as anti-Malay and anti-Islam?
If the people of Penang regard the 1Malaysia concept as fake and hypocritical, how can he expect the people of Sabah and Sarawak and the rest of Malaysians to have much confidence in the slogan?
As Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin should be in the forefront to secure the co-operation of all MPs and political parties outside the Barisan Nasional fold to make a success of the 1Malaysia campaign, on the ground that it is a national issue and not a party agenda.
Unless the 1Malaysia concept is merely an Umno and Barisan Nasional political gimmick, Muhyiddin should have taken the initiative to approach MPs and political parties outside the Barisan Nasional to put aside all partisan differences to foster the national development of the 1Malaysia concept.
He should be meeting with Opposition MPs in Parliament to forge an all-party platform to ensure the achievement of the 1Malaysia concept at all levels of national life.
But Muhyiddin has done none of this in the past year that he was Deputy Prime Minister.
[Speech by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang in Dewan Rakyat on the Royal Address on Thursday, 18th March 2010]