Zambry slams Nizar for turning MyKad case into racial issue

Perak Menteri Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir hit out at the opposition leader in the state assembly for turning the case of a 12-year-old girl's failure to get a MyKad from the National Registration Department (NRD) into a racial issue.

He said Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin's allegation was a baseless conclusion and the Changkat Jering assemblyman's action was also seen as an attempt to gain political mileage.

"(The) Changkat Jering (assemblyman) can accuse the Barisan Nasional (BN) government of being racist if it has not done anything to help correct the situation. He can say that too if the NRD belongs to us (state government) and can ask the officer concerned to act on the case.

"We did not know what actually happened but suddenly he (Nizar) came to this conclusion, which was reckless," he told reporters outside the state assembly sitting Tuesday.

He questioned Nizar's dragging of the BN state government into the girl, S. Mahalachime's MyKad application case and turning it into a racial issue as the problem could happen to anyone.

"He (Nizar) talked like he was giving a ceramah...I was not angry, and the more he talked, the more I smiled. I thought he would have changed his style of debating, but he hasn't. This (making wild allegations) is a bad example for the new assemblymen," he said.

Earlier, when debating on the state's 2014 Budget, Nizar raised a number of issues which could arouse racial sentiments, including the MyKad case, hence drawing the ire of the BN assemblymen.

Datuk Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib (BN-Slim) interjected, saying that Nizar's expressed views contravened Article 36 (1) of the state assembly's Standing Order as it had gone out of the topic for debate.

However, this was ignored by Nizar who defended his views, saying the state government should rid itself of a racist attitude if it wished to live up to its slogan, "Perak Aman Jaya, Rakyat Sejahtera."

Datuk Mohd Tarmizi Idris (BN-Kenering) then stood up to interject, using Article 36 11 (c) of the Standing Order, which states that views which can cause uneasiness or racial animosity cannot be raised.

State assembly Speaker Datuk Seri S.K. Devamany then calmed down both sides and asked Nizar to continue his debate without touching on racial issues.