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Malaysia’s Mahathir faces backlash over race quota for contractors on China-backed East Coast Rail Link
- Prime minister has confirmed preferential treatment for so-called Bumiputra companies will also apply to hiring for multibillion-dollar construction project
- But detractors say affirmative action risks compromising on quality and policy rubbishes election promises of full equality
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Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s assurance of preferential treatment for Malay and other indigenous businesspeople when awarding contracts for the multibillion-dollar China-backed East Coast Rail Link has been sharply criticised by political analysts and the opposition for deviating from his administration’s pledge to enhance multiracialism.
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His government said it would continue affirmative action for Bumiputra companies – a term referring to the Southeast Asian nation’s Malay and other indigenous groups, which make up about 70 per cent of the population. However, a quota has yet to be set.
Mahathir, whose Pakatan Harapan government last year ousted former Malay-dominated coalition Barisan Nasional after 61 years of uninterrupted rule, made the announcement on Tuesday after appeals from industry groups such as the Malaysian Bumiputra Contractors Association, which said at least 42,000 Bumiputra professionals had the skills to take on the civil works project.
“The prime minister is playing the race card yet again,” said Ti Lian Ker, vice-president of opposition party the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA). “Mahathir’s coalition is aware it has to pull in the Malay vote. The Malays who voted against Barisan Nasional last May are now no longer attracted to Pakatan Harapan.”
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The prime minister’s alliance won the 2018 polls with only 30 per cent of the Malay vote. The remaining ballots mostly went to Malay opposition parties. Some 95 per cent of the country’s voters of Chinese descent were reported to have backed Pakatan Harapan.
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