PKR vice-president N Surendran has hit out at a proposal by Shahidan Kassim, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, for citizens to vote along racial lines.

Surendran, a lawyer, said this would be unconstitutional, racist and illegal, and that there is no precedent for such voting in any civilised nation.

“The BN proposal is in clear breach of Article 119 of the federal constitution, which (states) that every citizen who is 21 years old and a registered voter is qualified to vote in both federal and state elections,” he said in a statement today.

“There are no race restrictions under Article 119. Therefore, any attempt to create racial voting restrictions will run foul of Article 119.”

Surendran said that any attempt by BN to create racial voting categories would be a frontal assault on the constitution, the basic principles upon which Malaysia was formed.

The proposal may have far-reaching and dangerous implications. Yet, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak (right) and other top BN leaders have chosen to remain silent, he said.

“This suggests that they approve of this racist proposal and are now testing it out in the public domain,” he said.

“The idea is a subversion of the constitution and will lead to the creation of an apartheid nation. This in turn will result in Malaysia becoming the pariah of the world.”

He added that Pakatan Rakyat would never agree to any such amendment to the constitution and would fight the proposal to the bitter end.