Malaysia's ruling party has suspended an official who outraged minority ethnic Chinese earlier this week with a racially charged tirade.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also told a news conference Wednesday that authorities will use the law against anyone who stirs racial tensions.
Asked if this could include the use of a law allowing imprisonment without trial, Abdullah said such a provision would be invoked only "if absolutely necessary."
Abdullah earlier announced that the ruling United Malays National Organization had stripped Ahmad Ismail of his post as a district chief in northern Penang state and suspended his party membership for three years.
The party held a special meeting Wednesday to determine how to punish Ahmad, a member of the ethnic Malay majority.
He has rankled the ethnic Chinese community by calling them "immigrants" who want to add political domination to their economic power.
The furore has highlighted rifts between majority Muslim Malays and the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, and raised fears of a split in the coalition of race-based parties which has ruled for half a century.
"The supreme council has found that Ahmad Ismail's statement and actions have caused much anger and protest from the BN component parties," Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said after a meeting of the policy-making body.
"We have decided that he will be suspended from the party for three years," he told a press conference.
WHAT MALAY LEADER SAY?
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has questioned why Malay leaders were apologising over a remark deemed as racist by an Umno leader.
He said non-Malay leaders never apologised when similar racist remarks were made by members of their community.
The former prime minister said in his blog (www.chedet.com) the Malays were so scared of being labelled racist that they even wrote in Malay papers that the Malays were not racists.
He was referring to the apology by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak made on behalf of Umno over a racist statement by Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail.
He cited the case of the Hindu Right Action Front, he said so many allegations including Islamist extremism and ethnic cleansing were hurled against the Malays.
However, no one demanded apologies from leaders of the non-Malay community.
He also cited the case of Wee Meng Chee who made parody of the Negaraku and poking fun at the call for prayers but there was no apology from leaders of the community over Wee’s actions.
Legitimate Malay concerns
The passing of this storm should not be taken to mean however, that widely felt, legitimate concerns amidst the Malay middle ground do not exist.
In an era where globalisations swallows cultures whole, and amidst a global backdrop where Islam appears constantly under siege, it is undeniably understandable to fear the loss of one’s identity.
Thus far, that risk is in Malaysia offset by truly painful, back breaking governance by the incumbent ruling coalition as well as the existence of a currently acceptable alternative. That said, the concerns that communal dignity and identity are at risk remain and people will continue to watch closely.
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