by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, 2nd February 1994:
DAP welcomes the proposal that the Sabah Chief Ministership be rotated among the three major communities and calls for this policy to be reflected in the Federal and all other State Barisan Nasional State Governments.
DAP welcomes the proposal by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed that the Sabah Chief Ministership be rotated among the three major communities in Sabah every two years.
We hope that this reflects a new awareness of the Barisan Nasional government of the unique multi-racial character of Malaysia and represents a new policy of the Barisan Nasional, and not a mere election gimmick to win votes to topple the PBS Government in the Sabah state general elections.
The Prime Minister should tell not only the people of Sabah but throughout Malaysia that the policy giving recognition to the multi-racial character of our country will also be reflected in the Federal and all other State Barisan Nasional State Governments.
Dr. Mahathir should promise to rotate the senior Cabinet posts of Finance, Home Affairs, Education, International Trade, Defence and even Deputy Prime Ministership among the main communities.
For a start, there are four areas where such a multi-racial policy could be implemented immediately, namely:
Senior Cabinet positions, like the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Education, Minister for International Trade and Commerce, Minister for Defence and even the Deputy Prime Ministership should be rotated among the main communities in Malaysia;
Rotation of the Sarawak Chief Minister’s post among the three main communities in Sarawak, namely the Malays, the Ibans and the Chinese. If Dr. Mahathir is prepared to give such a promise in Sabah, there is no reason why he should not extend the same principle to Sarawak;
Keeping the Merdeka understanding reached between UMNO and MCA that the positions of Malacca Governor and Malacca Chief Minister would be shared between the Malay and Chinese communities. This Merdeka understanding was observed for one term only when the country attained Merdeka when the Goveror was Tun Leong Yew Koh while the Chief Minister was Ghafar Baba. Can the Prime Minister announce that the Barisan Nasional will now adhere to this Merdeka understanding and that if the Malacca Chief Minister is a Malay, the Malacca Governor would be a Chinese; and vice versa?
Rotating key and top civil service appointments among the various communities. For instance, although Malaysia has seven universities, there has not been a single Malaysian Chinese or Malaysian Indian who had been appointed a Vice Chancellor in the past three decades although there are many competent and qualified candidates. This applies to top and key positions like the Lord President, the Chief Secretary, Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur, etc. Can the Prime Minister announce that in the next 12 to 24 months, there will be Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indians who will be appointed as Vice Chancellors of local universities and that all top and key government positions would be rotated among the main communities?