SHAH ALAM - Political analyst Professor Datuk Dr Jayum Jawan has slammed former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for making "irresponsible" and "condemnable" racially sensitive statements, calling them the unbecoming of a statesman.
Speaking at the Wacana Sinar Series 428 entitled "Don't Let It Become Racial Politics," Jayum criticised Dr Mahathir's recent claim that the Malaysian Indian community's alleged lack of loyalty towards the nation was due to ties with their ancestral homeland.
"What Tun M said is not something that should come from the mouth of a statesman.
"He is known not only in Malaysia but also globally. I think that (Dr Mahathir's statement) is very unfortunate and condemnable," he said.
The programme, hosted by Ismail Adnan, also featured two other panellists: Pas central committee member Dr Halimah Ali and Amanah deputy youth chief Danial Al-Rashid Haron.
Commenting on the political situation in Malaysia, Jayum said the country has recently faced too many disputes involving politics.
He revealed that the current political situation is at a critical juncture.
"Malaysian politics has always been race-based, but it has never reached this level.
"This problem may stem from Malaysia's administrative system. If we look at the political demography, we don't have many mixed areas (voters consisting of Malays, Chinese, Indians)," he said.
Jayum said that the endless political issues originated from the formation of the Federation of Malaya.
He explained that the Malays, Chinese and Indians pretended to be able to work together to convince the colonisers, the British, to grant independence.
However, Jayum assured that racial, political issues could be resolved by practicing the political pattern of Sabah and Sarawak, as there was no dominant race in these states.
He said that the administration in Sarawak was formed through a mixed government consisting of at least two races.
"It's not like in Peninsular Malaysia. Here, the Malays can form a government without the Chinese or Indians.
"This is possible because out of 165 seats in the Peninsular, 125 are majority Malay," he added.