Syed Husin backs Nurul Izzah, says she's 'spot on'

PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali has rubbished claims that the party’s Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar had painted an inaccurate picture of the country’s affirmative action policies and practices.

On the contrary, said the veteran politician, Nurul Izzah ( right ) was spot on when telling Indonesian newspaper Kompas that provisions in Malaysia’s federal constitution providing for the ‘special position’ of Malays and bumiputeras had been abused.  

“The views of Lembah Pantai member of parliament are accurate and a challenge that is spot on and has stung the target,” said Syed Husin in a statement.

“Nurul Izzah’s view is correct: the phrase ‘special rights’ of Malays does not exist in the federal constitution. What does exist is only ‘special position’. Neither is there ‘ketuanan Melayua’ (Malay supremacy) in the constitution,” he added.

For these reasons, those Umno leaders who had attacked Nurul Izzah ( left ) for her statements against the abuse of the New Economic Policy have shown themselves to be playing merely lip-service to 1Malaysia while all the while actually subscribing to the parochialism of Malay racists, said Syed Husin.

“The constitutions of countries are not like the Qur’an of Allah, which cannot be changed by human beings. The federal constitution has been ammended 40 times.

“Because of this, Nurul Izzah’s stand is in conformity with that of Keadilan and Pakatan (Rakyat) in upholding the spirit of the federl constitution as it stands, including the articles on the position of Islam, the sultans and Bahasa Melayu and the special position of Malays, as long as it is not misused to satisfy the greed of those in power, who are in special positions already.”

Several ministers and Umno leaders have accused Nurul Izzah of treachery for disparaging the country’s defence system and pro-Malay affirmative action policies in the Kompas interview.

Nurul Izzah, however, pointed out that her statements on the inability for one of the country’s two submarines to dive was based on the statements of Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi himself in Parliament.