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Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad recently took to his social media platforms to express his views about multiracialism, and also criticise the country’s current administration.

In a Facebook post on Jul. 3, he alluded that it was unconstitutional to promote a multiracial Malaysia as it was not mentioned in the Federal Constitution.

“I’m just raising the provisions of the Constitution. Is it against the law to defend the Constitution?” Mahathir asked, according to the post’s translation by The Star.

“Instead, what is against the Constitution is promoting a multiracial country.”

“Is the government going against the rule of law - including the Constitution - which did not mention that Malaysia is a multiracial country? Instead, the Constitution stresses a Malay-Malaysia.”

DAP’s manifesto

Mahathir also wrote about the cabinet line-up under current Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“Yes, [Democratic Action Party (DAP)] only has four ministers. But within the government, there are 40 DAP (Members of Parliament). If DAP retracted its support, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s government would collapse.”

The DAP is part of Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, and the largest party in the government (although not the largest party in parliament).

That was the reason why Anwar is supposedly following DAP’s manifesto, Mahathir said, without evidence, which was “specifically making a multiracial Tanah Melayu and replacing the official religion of Islam with a secular country and a country without an official religion,” The Star reported.

Mahathir himself was involved in a similar situation in 2020, when his then-party Bersatu withdrew its support for the Pakatan Harapan coalition, collapsing the government.

Mahathir then made a follow-up post on Jul. 4 and to further express his opinion about multiracialism in Malaysia.

What led to Mahathir’s comments?

The former Malaysian Prime Minister was responding to Umno’s information chief for Bukit Gelugor Huzaidi Husin, according to Free Malaysia Today (FMT).

The latter earlier told Mahathir on Jun. 16 that he need not fan racial sentiments as most Malays were more eager to see the country recover economically.

Huzaidi also denied that the DAP had a notable influence within the government, as they only had four ministers.

Response to comments

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi told the media on Jul. 4 that Mahathir was merely being provocative to remain relevant at his age, Malay Mail reported.

“I think I will leave it to the prime minister to reply but I think you know, knowing him, he will like to be provocative and I don’t intend to answer to his provocation,” he was quoted as saying.

Anwar, on the same day, indirectly responded to Mahathir’s comments.

Speaking at a forum, he noted that "there was an argument suggesting that we were bowing down to DAP,” New Straits Times reported.

"Ladies and gentleman, let me tell you this… I am the PM. I am no one's puppet,” he said, adding that the DAP has “never questioned the programmes for the Malays, the poor and for Islam”.

In response to Mahathir’s claim that promoting multiracialism could be unconstitutional, Anwar stated:

"In the Madani concept espoused by the federal government under my leadership, we want to emphasise manners, the participation and understanding of not just Muslims, but also non-Muslims.”

"However, when we are doing this, they will say I am promoting Malaysia as a multiracial country. They will say we are a Malay country and it is against the constitution to promote Malaysia in such a way but I do not understand.”

In a Tweet on Jul. 4, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called Mahathir out for being contradictory, saying that the latter himself had violated the Federal Constitution.

Atok97 kata mempromosi Malaysia sebagai negara berbilang bangsa adalah bertentangan dengan perlembagaan.

Jadi, harap Atok97 boleh tegur Atok94 yang telah langgar perlembagaan sebab telah mempromosi Malaysia sebagai negara berbilang bangsa.#1Malaysia pic.twitter.com/rcYlMWV5Fy

— Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) July 4, 2023

In 2018, Mahathir had expressed his support for a multiracial and multi-religious Malaysia in a video, as illustrated in the screenshot of a Berita Harian report.

What Mahathir has been up to

At a conference at the 28th Nikkei Forum held in Japan in June 2023, Mahathir spoke about his current impression of Umno and made clear that he no longer saw the party in a positive light.

A month earlier, he filed a RM150 million (S$43.49 million) defamation suit against Anwar.

Mahathir claimed that the latter had defamed him by accusing him of enriching himself and his family during his time as Prime Minister.

He also recently announced a "Malay proclamation", reportedly aimed at uplifting the Malay community of Malaysia, which attracted the attention of opposition parties like the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).

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Top image via Facebook/Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad