KUALA LUMPUR, April 9: Issues concerning citizenship of the non-Malays are long settled and it is not UMNO's right to question them any longer, said PAS information chief Idris Ahmad (pic).

Expressing regret over remarks by Selangor UMNO chairman Noh Omar, who raised the issue during Barisan Nasional's recent state convention, Idris reminded that non-Malay citizens have made huge contributions in the last 52 years since independence and should not be made as political pawns.

“Noh's remarks were not the first from an UMNO leader. Last February, the PM's special officer Nasir Safar invited the same anger from non-Malay Malaysians for branding them immigrants," Idris told Harakahdaily.

Noh's remark drew immediate reaction from MCA members present at the convention, who then staged a walk-out in protest. The former Home Minister has since apologised over the remarks.

Idris reiterated PAS's rejection of any speech, slogan or campaign with racist overtones, adding that race and citizenship issues should not be raised if Malaysians were to live in harmony.

He also called on BN's component parties to reevaluate their membership in the coalition in the wake of UMNO's repeated portrayal as a racist party.

He pointed out that UMNO had continued to blame parties such as MIC and MCA over the BN's defeat in Selangor in the last general election.

“The non-Malay BN component parties are like step-children who have lost their father," he added.