MCA has urged the authorities to probe the Malay Consultative Council, or Majlis Perundingan Melayu (MPM), for sedition following its calls for vernacular schools to be abolished.

malaysiakini interview loh seng kok 061108 01 The party's central committee member Loh Seng Kok ( left ) points out that a precedent was set in 1978 where Mark Koding, an MP from Sabah, was charged under the sedition laws for similar remarks made during the Dewan Rakyat debate.

"This is an example which shows that even in Parliament, an individual does not have complete immunity against seditious statements," he said.

Loh said that the sedition laws apply to MPM because, he said, such schools were protected under the Education Act 1996 and Article 152 (A) of the federal constitution.

National unity not impeded

According to Loh, vernacular schools were not impeding national unity as there was an emphasis on Bahasa Malaysia and patriotism, while being able to learn mother tongue languages.

"Chinese and Tamil primary schools do not impede national unity. Bigots and racialist groups which do not exclude MPM are the main culprits undermining national unity," said Loh.

He was commenting on remarks made by MPM steering committee members Kamaruddin Kachar and Mohd Hilmi Ismail who told the press yesterday that vernacular schools should be abolished.

NONE They said this following calls by MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek ( right ) for the federal government to increase funding for vernacular schools.

According to Kamaruddin, as reported by Malaysian Insider , only national schools were allowed to receive government funds according to the federal constitution.

This is the latest tiff between MCA, BN's second largest component party, with Malay groups following its war-of-words with Umno and Perkasa leaders after the conclusion of the Chinese Economic Congress on Aug 14.

Umno leaders claim that MCA's position on the economy had put the BN coalition in jeopardy while Perkasa is claiming that the exclusively Chinese party is questioning Malay rights.

MPM upped the ante yesterday by calling for Chua to be incarcerated without trial under the Internal Security Act for urging the government to relax its 40-year-old 30 percent target for bumiputra equity ownership.