Malaysia must eliminate factors that divide the people, such as having vernacular schools, before the possibility of having a non-Malay becoming prime minister can be entertained, said Pejuang president Mukhriz Mahathir.

"The existence of vernacular schools, in particular, creates a separate stream of teaching that can cause division among our children.

"Our founding fathers would not have agreed to let the British-era vernacular schools continue operating well beyond Merdeka, as they know it would create more divisions between the people," he said in a statement today.