What really is the reason for the contention over DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang’s statement to a gathering of Malaysian students in London last November that a non-Malay could become a prime minister of Malaysia?

Why did that statement that is correct and which is stated in the Federal Constitution raise such a cloud of protests from the Opposition which represents the majority in the country by virtue of being the majority race, namely the Malays?

Article 43(2)(a) states: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri
(Prime Minister) to preside over the Cabinet a member of the House of Representatives who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House.

This law does not state the race of the PM, so Yang Berhormat (YB) Lim was correct in saying that a non-Malay could become a PM; he wasn’t being seditious. So, why did it trigger such adverse reactions that a member of the public lodged a police report prompting the police to call him up for questioning?

Perhaps, it was because of an oversight on his part that he did not clarify the second part of the law which states the condition on which a non-Malay can become a PM. A non-Malay can become a PM if he commands the confidence of the majority of the Members of Parliament in the Dewan Rakyat. The majority of MPs represent the Malay majority and if a non-Malay can command their support, he/she can become PM.

The current reality, however, is that it is an unlikelihood that the majority of MPs representing the Malays would give their support to a non-Malay PM. That might happen in the future but now, unlikely.

The point to note is that an MP becoming a PM is conditional to him/her winning the support of the majority of MPs the majority of whom represent the Malay majority. In other words, no one — Malay or non-Malay can ever become a PM in Malaysia without Malay support. It must also be noted here that the majority support must come from the “members of the House” — the MPs — not political parties.

YP Lim did explain that the possibility of a non-Malay PM isn’t a current reality. Yet, it didn’t pacify his critics, mainly because he had written in his blog that “The Malaysian constitution provides for a Malaysian Dream and not a mono-ethnic dream as it provides that a non-Malay can (also) be a prime minister”.

The obvious question is: How can the Malaysian Dream NOT be a mono-ethnic dream when the majority of the MPs represent a mono-ethnic community?

Perhaps, YB Lim, looking through his ethnic lens, overlooked this reality and failed to communicate that in the Malaysian Dream the mono-ethnic dream is central or integral and will not be swamped by other dreams. This is the fear that his statement triggered and which resulted in such a chorus of negative reactions to his definition of the Malaysian Dream which excludes the mono-ethnic reality.

If he had conceded that in the Malaysian Dream other dreams would co-exist and thrive with the mono-ethnic dream, it would have made his stand less threatening. It would have shown his commitment to a Malaysian multi-culturalism that builds on the mono-ethnic dream and is inclusive of other dreams but does not attempt to overtake or set aside the mono-ethnic dream.

To a people who are still smarting from being forced out of a government — although they are the majority — through unconstitutional moves supported by the DAP, describing a Malaysian Dream which dismisses the mono-ethnic dream, comes across as a biased interpretation of the constitution to favour multi-ethnic dreams at the exclusion of the mono-ethnic dream.

In the context of the most recent experience of forming the unity government where an MP with minority support was appointed as PM — fully supported by the DAP — YB Lim’s statement conjures the possibility that a minority-supported MP could in the same way become PM by sidelining the majority representation of the Malays.

To a veteran politician such as YB Lim and doyen of Opposition MPs, it should come as no surprise that his statement of a non-Malay PM stirred up such stinging criticisms. No doubt, his statement shows his desire for a more inclusive Malaysia — and that is commendable! — but it also reveals an unconscious and unintentional, perhaps, lack of sensitivity to the Malays and their aspirations.

How then can the DAP, in the spirit of its Malaysian dream, claim it also represents the majority race which, in recent events, it failed to include? If it excluded majority representation when it was convenient for it to join the unity government, what guarantee is there that it would not also exclude other minority representations when it suits them?