The Malaysian Insight

THERE is no reason to question the integrity of government officers based on their race or religion, said Anwar Ibrahim today.

The PKR president said the only question that should arise is whether or not they are doing their jobs professionally.

The PKR president said this when asked to comment on Barisan Nasional secretary-general Nazri Aziz’s recent remarks on the appointment of non-Muslims as the attorney-general, chief justice and finance minister.

In a speech while campaigning in the Semenyih by-election, Nazri said the three were not able to swear on the Quran. The trio – Tommy Thomas, Richard Malanjum and Lim Guan Eng – are all Christians.

Nazri allegedly said if the A-G was not a Bumiputera, there was bound to be bias.

Anwar said in the West, Christians would swear on the Bible, like how Muslims here swore on the Quran.

“It is not proper to suggest the contrary. But it is important to support to any officer to conduct his affairs professionally to dispense justice,” he told reporters at the Penang International Business and Investment Summit today.

Anwar said even though Malays were expressing such views against the three appointees, their integrity should not be questioned if they were doing their jobs well.

“If they continue to work and there is nothing to suggest or suspect their decisions are unjust, there is no reason for us to question their integrity.

“Many Malays who are trusted with their jobs have done very well. But there are also some who are incapable, unjust and corrupt. It is similar with non-Malays too.

“It is important for officers to do their jobs professionally, regardless of their race or religion,” he said.

Asked what he would do to Nazri if he was calling the shots, Anwar said the environment in Malaysia was different now, more democratic than before.

“We allow and respect (the freedom of speech) but we must also be given the right to counter,” he said.

Anwar said other Malay concerns, such as poverty, inequality and marginalisation could be addressed, but none of them had anything to do with the racial and religious backgrounds of government officers.

“We should avoid racial prejudices,” he said.

Nazri has since got into trouble over his remarks in his stump speech, which also touched on closing vernacular schools.

But he denied being a racist, saying that he believed all Malaysians have rights that should be defended, and that vernacular schools should continue to exist.

Nazri was questioned by police yesterday over his speech.

Inspector-General of Police Fuzi Harun today confirmed that Nazri is being investigated for sedition. – February 26, 2019.