He was responding to Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad’s statement in defence of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) restricting its membership to Malays and Bumiputeras, saying that it was not racist to love one’s own race and that a racist was one who disliked a certain race or wanted to go toe-to-toe with other races.
Speaking to FMT, Ibrahim said that Khalid’s statement proved that those who labelled him a racist were wrong.
“Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) lah, now I can walk tall and hold my head up high,” he said. “When I said it then people call me a racist but when Khalid Samad says it I’m sure people will finally understand.”
Ibrahim has been labelled a racist and a religious bigot by many people and groups, including from the opposition as well as some members of Umno.
In 2011, Umno’s Khairy Jamaluddin called Ibrahim a “dangerous racist” for warning the Chinese against joining in the Bersih 2.0 rally in July that year.
Ibrahim said that he had always been ahead of other people, citing the conflict between PAS and DAP as an example.
“I advised PAS to watch out for DAP and then I got slammed by PAS for that but now look at what’s happened.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed also spoke on the matter saying that the opposition had always been hypocritical.
“They claim to be fighting for a Malaysian Malaysia, but just look at the actual structure of their parties,” he said.
“You have PAS for the Malay Muslims and DAP for the Chinese, meanwhile Umno has never denied being a Malay-based party but in the coalition we have different parties that cater to the needs of other races.”
He added that PAS and DAP found it convenient to work together for a while but now their true intentions were out in the open.