Malaysia PM moves to defuse racial, religious fears

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 (Reuters) Malaysia's prime minister vowed today to defuse his nation's religious and racial fears in a speech aimed at soothing party rifts.

Political leaders of the ethnic Malay majority warned the nation's Chinese and Indian minorities yesterday to stop questioning Malay privileges or risk hurting race relations, a touchy issue in a country that has suffered race riots in the past.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also wished his predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, well and called him a statesman, despite months of harsh criticism of Abdullah's policies and style of governing by his former mentor.

''Lately we have seen growing polemics relating to race and religious issues,'' Abdullah told a meeting of his United Malays National Organisation, the key party in Malaysia's ruling coalition.

''It has reached a worrying stage,'' he added. ''There are several factors behind this. One of them is the current openness that enables this debate to breach the boundaries of sensitive issues relating to race and religion.'' Some prominent Malays, notably former premier Mahathir, have long voiced doubts about affirmative action policies that favour Malays, but recent criticism, especially ethnic Chinese politicians, has raised hackles within UMNO.

Affirmative action was born out of riots between Malays and Chinese in 1969. The violence, in which hundreds were killed, was blamed on a yawning wealth gap between Malays and richer Chinese.

A renewed public debate about Islam has also stoked fears among Malays that their religion is under threat. The vast majority of Malays follow Islam.

Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism are widely practiced in Malaysia, where ethnic Chinese and Indians account for about 25 percent and 8 percent of the population respectively.

STERN MEASURES Abdullah, who is also internal security minister in charge of the police, warned he would take stern measures if he felt disputes among the different racial groups might get out of hand.

''If the situation warrants, the government will take firm action to enforce existing laws to ensure stability, peace and harmony.'' Abdullah, who has been criticised by Mahathir for scrapping major public spending projects planned during the latter's tenure, said his key aim was to reduce the fiscal deficit. It stood at 5.3 percent of GDP in 2003 when he took over from Mahathir.

''In the long term, the government cannot afford to bear a big budget deficit,'' said Abdullah, who is also finance minister, adding that it was imperative for Malaysia to stick to financial discipline.

Malaysia expects the deficit to narrow to 3.5 per cent of GDP this year, he added. The government has earlier said it expected the figure to fall to 3.4 per cent of GDP by 2010.

Mahathir's often stinging criticism of Abdullah has unsettled many in the prime minister's party, which still holds Mahathir in high esteem.

Mahathir was discharged from hospital yesterday after treatment for a mild heart attack but did not attend the party meeting.

Despite talk of a slowdown in efforts to fight corruption, a key plank of a programme that carried Abdullah to a landslide election victory in 2004, the prime minister said he remained committed to the goal.

''Efforts to fight corruption have been disappointing at times,'' he said. ''I have asked the courts to speed up the corruption cases in the interest of the public.

''Some people say that I am dragging my feet because there are no arrests,'' Abdullah added. ''It's a long process. Help me to fight corruption by offering evidence.'' Reuters SP GC1105