PETALING JAYA: Datuk Zaid Ibrahim called on DAP's leadership to state whether it agrees with former attorney general Tommy Thomas' analysis of "the failure of Malay leadership".
The senior lawyer, who recently rejoined Umno, added that DAP must issue a statement if it disagrees with the former attorney general.
"(Thomas) spoke at length about the failure of Malay leadership.
"In effect, he said that if the government and Cabinet were dominated by Malays, then it would likely fail.
"This sort of stereotyping is not beneficial," he said in a video posted on his Facebook page on Monday (Sept 19).
Zaid questioned the type of Malays who are acceptable to DAP.
"Who is able to govern? How are the Malays approved by DAP?
"This is important because Malay voters who support Pakatan Harapan need to know whether the (Malay leaders) supported by Pakatan are useful or useless.
"Or are they merely stooges of DAP?
"Voters need to know the characteristics of Malay leaders who meet the DAP's approval," he said.
Zaid was referring to the speech delivered by Thomas at a political forum held on Saturday (Sept 17).
Meanwhile, Zaid praised Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) president Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj for his balanced approach to racial issues plaguing the country,
"Dr Jeyakumar speaks prudently. He talked about the economy and industrialisation, in which small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country were dominated by the Chinese community but employed very few Malays.
"He speaks with balance and in a way that doesn't anger others. He's objective, he's rational. It is the kind of speech we expect of our political leadership today.
"Can we expect this dialogue, this discourse, from DAP?" he asked.
Although Zaid, a former law minister, acknowledged that racism does exist in Malaysia, he said it would be wrong to put the blame for it entirely on Malay leadership.
"To resolve issues surrounding racism, let's speak correctly, politely and be grounded in facts," he said.
Zaid also said it was not enough for Umno to shout for Parliament to be dissolved.
"We must also shout about our government's priorities – what sort of leaders we intend to put forward," he said, adding that the party must promote a responsible and functioning government for the good of all Malaysians.
Zaid first joined Umno in 2000 where he contested and won the Kota Baru parliamentary seat during the 2004 general election.
However, Umno dropped him as a candidate in the GE12. Then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi selected Zaid as a minister in his administration but the latter resigned from the Cabinet and was suspended from Umno in 2008.
In 2009, he joined PKR but resigned from the party a year later. Zaid then formed Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita) in 2010 but resigned as its chief in 2012.
After Kita, Zaid joined DAP in 2017 but it only lasted for about three years, and he left his fourth political party in 2020.
