'Malays should continue to lead Malaysia'

If Malaysia wants political stability, the top leadership should still be Malay dominated, according to political scientist Wahabuddin Ra’ees.

The associate professor in the Department of Political Science International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) argued that the Malay leadership has been “more accommodating” of the other races, based on what happened historically.

“If Malaysia would like to allow these different races to continue to live side by side, to have stability, it would require the political leadership to be Malay, who have proven to be important given their experience through the history,” he told a seminar discussing the aftermath of the 13th General Election.

Citing the social contract, Wahabuddin said: “Yes, they (the Malays) are more accommodative to the needs of others, as they have done in the past.”

“Despite the fact that they were ruling the area [before the formation of Malaya], it was not an issue to the Malays why the Chinese and Indian had come in but how they could be brought into the system. And in this way they were brought in. Therefore that contributed to stability of the country,” said the political observer.

Wahabuddin said that although there is a greater call for multi-ethnic politics, he said at this time, the country cannot do away with Malay dominated political leadership.

“I think Malaysia is moving towards that(multi-ethnic politics). People have changed. They are moving towards and developing a kind of Malaysian identity that might override the ethnic identity.

“It depends on the political leaders to what extent… Whether they would really bridge the gap or widen that divide between them,” said the Afghanistan-born academic.