The Star reported that the Prime Minister stated that racist comments from “one or two Umno leaders” should be ignored because the majority of members in the party are not racists.

Speaking at the Gerakan National Delegates Conference in KL yesterday, the UMNO president stressed that the party’s policies had always been fair, inclusive, democratic and open. “Umno is not a racist party. From the beginning, we wanted a multiracial society. Don’t listen to one or two leaders talk; that’s different. Any party has leaders like them. But look at our policies from Day One,” he said at the opening of the Gerakan national delegates conference yesterday. He said Barisan was still relevant as a ruling coalition now and for the future. “It is not because we say so but because we are willing to change. We hear the voice of Malaysia and we will continue to commit ourselves to the people of Malaysia,” he said.

Najib reiterated that his mission as Prime Minister was to lead all Malaysians. Umno, he said, derived its strength from the country’s racial diversity. “That’s our uniqueness. We can celebrate our diversity,” he added. This, he said, gave Malaysia a strategic advantage in developing diplomatic and economic ties with countries such as China, India and those in the Middle East and Asean.

“We are comfortable dealing with China. In 1974, we were the first South-East Asian country to establish diplomatic relations with China.” To stress his point, he described Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Malaysia on Nov 10 as a trip which “we are comfortable with”. Malaysia, he said, was uniquely placed because the international community and the rakyat trusted Barisan as the ruling government.

“The Opposition does the talking but do the people trust them? Are they really multiracial?” he asked. He cited the example of PAS having no place in the DAP-led Penang state government but Umno was included when Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon was chief minister. Barisan, he said, had to be fair to all races within the context of the Federal Constitution and the Rukun Negara. “We must hold on to the philosophy that we are a unique country. Our forefathers had the wisdom to go on the basis of integration,”.