Umno Youth leaders were criticised for demonstrating opposite the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Kuala Lumpur, earlier today as their action was misguided and could have endangered the racial harmony in the country.

DAP publicity chief Ronnie Liu in a statement to malaysiakini said the Umno Youth leaders should not overreact to the appeals made by the committee of Malaysian Chinese Organisations Election Appeals Committee (Suqiu) as "these are the same appeals accepted by the cabinet before the last general elections".

He said DAP views the 17-point appeals as reasonable and positive as they are about "fundamental rights without any racial bias ... based on democratic principles".

He said Umno Youth must accept the clarification made by Suqiu executive secretary Wong Chin Huat that his organisation had not questioned the special rights of the Malays.

"The media too should not manipulate this sensitive issue as it would create doubts among several quarters," Wong emphasised.

The DAP Youth wing also chided Umno Youth for manipulating the issue and turning it into something that will threaten the Malay rights and privileges.

The movement's secretary, Hew Kuan Yau, said that the memorandum of appeals submitted by Suqiu was a constructive one.

He added that DAP Youth, too, challenges the misuse of the special rights by certain quarters for their personal economic gains.

To counter this, he said, the special rights provisions should not be abolished but enlarged to incorporate more affirmative actions whereby not only the Malays but also the other races will benefit from it.

Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock told malaysiakini that the "recent debate about the alleged questioning of the Malay special rights has sparked off due to an irresponsible and unprofessional reporting by Utusan Malaysia ".

He said the debate of the Malay special rights "has again reminded us the existence of race politics".

He added that the globalisation era needs Malaysians to improve and strengthen the people's competitive conditions and as such it is essential to review the implementation of the special rights which should be based on socio-economic needs rather than ethnicity.