In another defence of his claim that promoting a multi-ethnic country goes against the Federal Constitution, Mahathir said citizens of the United Kingdom, United States and Australia identified themselves as citizens of these countries first, rather than by their ethnicity.

“They are still British, American or Australian, not British Indian, German American or Malayan Australian.

“It’s normal for foreigners who have been granted citizenship to be equally protected by the law. But it does not make the country a multiracial nation.

“Accepting citizens of other races does not make Malaysia a multiracial nation,” he said in a Facebook post.

Yesterday, deputy law and institutional reform minister Ramkarpal Singh said Article 3 of the Federal Constitution was proof of Malaysia’s multiracial identity.

It  states that Islam is the religion of the federation, but other religions may be practised in “peace and harmony”.

The DAP man said this demonstrated that Malaysia was a country made up of various ethnicities, cultures and religions.

But Mahathir asserted that the constitution never explicitly states that Malaysia is a multiracial country, though all citizens have equal democratic rights and freedoms.

The former Umno president said provisions in the constitution regarding the national language and customs, as well as the Malay rulers, “confirm” that Malaysia is a “Malay nation”.

He added that the Federal Constitution is the highest law of the land and must be respected by all.

“But the constitution can be amended if two-thirds of MPs agree to (do so in the Dewan Rakyat). If there’s an agreement to do so, Malaysia can be turned into a multiracial nation.

“If the Malays want to get rid of the ‘Malayness’ of this nation, then they should support the interpretation that this nation is a multiracial nation.”

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