The latest episode involving Bukit Bendera Umno division head Ahmad Ismail and the media war with Gerakan, MCA and other political parties is a warning sign of the dangers of racial politics in the country, said the Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) today.

ahmad ismail and umno When Ahmad claimed he is not a racist, it is because he believes that his views are shared by the mainstream Umno including the 13 divisions in the prime minister’s home state of Penang, Sapp president Yong Teck Lee said in a statement to Malaysiakini .

He said since Umno has only slapped a three-year suspension on both Umno and non-Umno people are unhappy for different reasons.

"I suspect that behind the scenes and in private confines, even more radical and extreme views are being hatched." Yong, a former Sabah chief minister and one of the most fiercest critics of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

His party has also proposed a no-confidence vote in the prime minister.

yong teck lee Yong said the act of tearing up a portrait of a BN component leader is merely a reflection of the tendency of violence arising from mixing race and religion with politics. "And this is the real danger."

ahmad ismail umno bukit bendera penang pc take down koh tsu koon photo stunt 080908 03 He was referring to Ahmad's supporters tearing a photograph of Gerakan acting president Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

Being race-based parties, Umno, MCA and Gerakan, are forced by circumstances to rise to the occasion to champion its race which it claims to "fight for."

Why is race a factor?

"I recall the 'ear squat incident' in 2005 when DAP championed the (ear squat) victim thinking that she was an ethnic Chinese," Yong said, adding that prime minster even dispatched a minister to Beijing to explain and apologise.

However, when it later emerged that she was a Malay, DAP lost its steam and, instead, Umno, took up the issue.

"Why does it matter what her race is when she had to go through the humiliation of a naked ear squat that was video recorded and circulated?" asked the Sapp leader.

Yong said many people will agree with ex-chief minister Harris Salleh's views that it is detrimental to segregate young Malaysians at schools by way of attire and activities.

"We must tackle racist tendencies at the root cause and young age, beginning with parents and schools," he added.

abdullah ahmad badawi bn and yong teck lee and sapp Yong said in his letter to the PM when he met Sabah leaders on April 7 this year, the first point Sapp made was the need to reduce racial polarisation in the country, having raised the same matter several times at BN meetings and Sapp's own political training courses.

In the eight-point declaration of June 20, Sapp also saw it important to put non-racial politics as a top priority of the nation.

"It is for this reason that Sapp’s youth camps are deliberately planned to be multi-racial in composition and in course contents," said Yong.

Sapp feels that the nation needs a generation of younger leaders to steer the country away from racial and religious polarization.

As an immediate measure, the country should emphasise the Rukun Negara which all learned at school and Vision 2020 which managed to rally all Malaysians towards one goal.

Government leaders starting with Umno, MCA and MIC should honestly evaluate themselves whether they can still allow race-based parties to exist and perpetuate racial politics to the detriment of the country and people.

"The time has come to abolish racial politics," Yong added.