Cops summon Kit Siang over 'non-Malay' PM remark

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has been called in by the police to provide a statement over his remarks to Malaysian students in Manchester, UK, at the end of last month.

A DAP source confirmed that the long-time MP, who was first elected in 1969 and finally retired in 2022, will be giving his statement at 9.30am on Wednesday at the police station in SS2, Petaling Jaya.

Despite the source not being able to confirm the Act for which Lim is being probed, Lim is believed to be accused of provocation for speaking about the possibility of a non-Malay person becoming the prime minister of Malaysia.

“I was accused of making provocative remarks when I said that the Federal Constitution provides that a non-Malay can be a prime minister.

“There was no such intention. The Constitution is a non-provocative document, the basis on which Malaysian unity must be founded,” said Lim in a statement this morning.

During his talk in Manchester, Lim said it took the US 230 years before an African-American (Barack Obama) could become president and that he hoped it would not take that long for a non-Malay to become the prime minister of Malaysia.

He also claimed that at present, the statement that a non-Malay could be Malaysia’s prime minister is a “statement of fact”, not a “statement of reality”.

Lim added that there must be a situation where the majority of Malaysians - be it Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, or Dayaks - can dream the Malaysian Dream and not a mono-ethnic dream.

Under the Federal Constitution, the only requirement for someone to be prime minister, as per Article 43(2)(a), is that the premier be an MP, who in the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s judgement has majority support.

There are no other criteria attached for an appointment to the top executive post.

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