'There is no need for a Chinese to be PM or DPM. We just want a good Malay to be PM or DPM. A good Malay who is not a bigot, a racist and is capable.'

Anwar says again: No qualms with Lim as DPM

Anonymous: As a Malay and a Muslim, I really do not bother who becomes the DPM as long as he/she has the heart for all Malaysians, will be able to turn the country economically around to benefit all and continues to bring peace and harmony.

Look at what the BN ministers and who claimed to be Muslims and guardians of ‘ketuanan Melayu' have done - they plundered the country's wealth for themselves (like Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and Abdul Taib Mahmud) and their cronies, while the rakyat - mostly Malays - suffer in their lies.

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: Absolutely right, Anwar Ibrahim. There should be three DPMs - one from the Malay community, one from the Chinese community and one from either Sabah or Sarawak. That is only fair given the racial composition of the country.

Umno is too mired in their ‘ketuanan Melayu' racist ideology to ever change. The BN is not a coalition of equals but a ‘consensus of the weak' under Umno domination. Despite all the fanfare and self-praise over the weekend, the BN convention changed nothing - the entire set-up is still dominated by Umno, including the cabinet. Moreover, the Umno supreme council is more powerful than the cabinet.

Given the fact that Umno has 79 seats and the Malays only make up 52% of the population, why this domination and over-representation of Umno? Part 2 of the NEM has confirmed the fears of most investors and voters that Najib has no backbone and has caved in to the demands of the Malay ultras and extremists.

Race-based economics coupled with patronage, abuses and corruption is a recipe for disaster.

Rolls-Royce: Anwar, I know you meant well. But to save all the trouble, the Chinese don't have to be DPM or PM. Never mind, just let the Malays be PM and DPM.

Please tell PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat that as well. So Nik Aziz, non-Muslim Chinese can't be a PM or DPM; what about a female Muslim, can she be the PM or DPM? All these are crap to me. It is not even in the constitution.

But never mind, let me say again - there is no need for a Chinese to be PM or DPM. We just want a good Malay to be PM or DPM. A good Malay, a Malay who is not a bigot, a racist and is super efficient and capable. You find us one, we will support him till the end of time.

Changeagent: A Chinese as DPM? Has anyone asked ‘Malay first, Malaysian second' DPM Muhyiddin Yassin what he thinks about the idea? He would probably say, "over my dead body".

Rick Teo: If United States, Australia and New Zealand had followed Malaysia's argument that only sons of soil aka bumiputera can be PM or president, than America would not have Barack Obama, Australia, Julia Gillard and New Zealand, John Key as their leaders.

Why worry whether the cat is black or white as long as it can catch the mice?

Pants on Fire: Would you prefer a corrupt Malay as a DPM instead of a clean and honest Chinese as DPM? I am sure you would not. By the same token, I wouldn't want a good but corrupt Chinese to be DPM when there are good clean Malays.

If Obama can be US president and Manmohan Singh PM of India, why can't good people be allowed to be DPM? I believe the PM should be a Malay, that's something we have to face and accept.

Big Picture: We should never take the racial, or worse, the racist approach. No one race is superior than the others as Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said. Well done, Anwar. If Lim Kit Siang is good for all Malaysians, he must also be good for all Malays.

As a Malay, I'm proud of you.

Lim Chong Leong: Anyone can be DPM. But why stop there? Anyone can be PM provided he places the country first and is able to deliver. I always say, any provision that bars any person from holding any post by virtue of his/her race or gender or even sexual inclination must be made unlawful, the constitution included.

Pemerhati: Our constitution does not specify the race of the prime minister, and the deputy PM is not even mentioned in the constitution.

The Umno leaders are making a big issue about the deputy PM being a Malay or non-Malay to play on the racial sentiments of the Malays and thus hope to win their votes at the next elections.

The Umno people are hoping that the Malays will be stupid enough to overlook the fact that since Dr Mahathir Mohamad's premiership, the country is estimated to have lost more than RM300 billion to corruption (according to Time magazine).

Most of this money was stolen by the top Umno people and that is why we often read about some of their family members joining the billionaire club or like Mahathir's son, making a huge investment in a brewery.

They are terrified that they would not be able to continue stealing and would be brought to justice if Pakatan Rakyat wins the next elections. Hence they are likely to use all sorts of dirty and crooked methods to cling on to power.

Ferdtan: Chua Soi Lek, as a president of the largest non-Malay political party, MCA, and on behalf of all non-Malay Malaysians, can you ask our PM Najib whether a non-Malay can ever be a DPM?

Ask him for his opinion - we want to know his 1Malaysia stand? If you do not dare to ask this pertinent question, then you are not a kind of leader that Malaysia would be proud of.

Blackberry: This is what we need to hear from Pakatan. The time has come to choose the best and not choose them because of their race like what is being practised when awarding scholarships and everything else.

Chipmunk: I agree with DSAI. The racial monster was created by none other than Umno out of fear of losing its grip over the Malays. It is like the fairy-tale about the boy who cried wolf.

They (Umno) can continue cheating and lying to the rakyat but the day will come when the rakyat will put a stop to this nonsense. What is it with the PM or DPM being a Malay? Why not say that the PM or the DPM be a Malaysian?

Wira: I have heard Anwar spoke many times in recent years. Never once have I heard him giving different messages to different ethnic crowds, unlike those from Umno.

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