PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's aspiration to form a Malay-only cabinet goes against what the country's forefathers intended, said DAP's Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh.

"There can be no doubt that Hadi is legally wrong in his said opinion, as since the time of independence, Malaysia has enjoyed a multicultural government which includes an actively multicultural cabinet.

"Hadi's opinion is undoubtedly far-reaching, and was never the intention of this country's forefathers.

"As such, it is important for all parties, regardless of political affiliation, to come out strongly against it," he said in a statement today.

Anything less can threaten the very fabric on which this country is built, he added.

Ramkarpal (photo), who is a lawyer, pointed out that the then Supreme Court, now the Federal Court, had ruled that the country was secular.

"Such secularism must, by its very nature, exclude any hint of an exclusively Malay cabinet," he said.

Ramkarpal also urged the ruling coalition and its component parties to state their position on the matter.

Hadi, in an opinion piece in Harakahdaily last Friday, said the role of non-Muslims in the cabinet should be limited.

He added that the cabinet should exclusively comprise Malays, with non-Muslim members playing a limited role.