A Barisan Nasional (BN) backbencher today claimed that the DAP was questioning the Malay special rights in its parliamentary motion to impose a RM10 salary cut on Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Salleh for controversial remarks made during the recent Umno annual general assembly.

The Dewan Rakyat had this afternoon set aside an hour to debate the motion tabled by Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) against Shafie over the latter's remarks made at the party assembly held in September.

Shafie was reported to have said that he will continue to ensure that the intake for bumiputera students intake at local varsities will exceed 55 percent in spite of the meritocracy system.

Her further claimed in his speech at the same assembly that the government would not admit non-bumiputera students into the Universiti Institute Teknologi Mara (UiTM).

Ahmad Shabery Cheek (BN-Kemaman) opposed the motion and said the DAP has always attempted to stir up racial sentiments in the guise of championing education issues. He said this did not help in nation building and working towards a united Malaysia.

The Kemaman MP then proceeded to read out Article 153 of the Federal Constitution which dealt with Malay special rights.

'Sense of despair'

At this juncture, Lim stood up and immediately objected the backbencher's argument, questioning why the latter should turn the debate into a 'seditious argument'.

The opposition leader stressed that he did not have any intention to question Malay special rights and urged the backbencher 'not to twist my statement'.

Lim then sought a ruling from Speaker Ramli Ngah Talib on whether the debate on the motion be viewed as seditious. Ramli, however, remained silent.

Ahmad then defended his invocation of Malay special rights, arguing that matter raised by Lim 'was a Malay issue'. The commotion between the two of them lasted for about five minutes.

Earlier, when tabling his motion, Lim said Shafie's statements during the Umno meeting had undermined national and international confidence in Malaysia's commitment to make the country a centre for international academic excellence.

"It also runs counter to the emphasis placed by the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in calling on all Malaysians to think of themselves as Malaysians and not to be tied to their race or religion as outlined in his national day message," said Lim.

The DAP politician also took a swipe at Shafie who had lost in his bid to become a Umno supreme council member at the assembly's elections.

He said he could understand Shafie's 'frustration and sense of despair' at being defeated, which in turn led to his controversial statements later to the assembly's delegates.

Minister explains

Supporting Lim's motion, Chow Kon Yeow (DAP-Tanjong) said politicians should not exploit issues for their own political interests.

"Even after such sensational statements , Shafie was still not appointed to the Umno supreme council," he said.

In his reply to the House, Shafie said he stood by his statements made at the Umno general assembly.

He said UiTM was established under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and hence the issue of admitting non-bumiputera students should not be raised.

On his assurance that there would always be more than a 55 percent bumiputera students intake into local varsities, he clarified that what he meant was that he wanted more than 55 percent of the total number of bumiputera students who applied for university entrance to be granted admission.

He said that for the 2004/2005 university entrance, 33.3 percent of the total number of Chinese students who had applied were admitted. The minister said that in this respect, bumiputera students had a lower percentage of being admitted compared to their total number of applications.

The motion to deduct Shafie's salary by RM10 was rejected by the BN-controlled House after the one-hour debate.