Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan chat in Parliament in Kuala Lumpur March 13, 2019. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 — The Dewan Rakyat turned chaotic today after two Opposition MPs made remarks that rivals interpreted as inciting racial conflict.

When debating the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s address today, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri (BN-Bera) chided Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan) for allegedly claiming the PAS-Umno collaboration is tantamount to a declaration of war on non-Malays.

Ismail expressed concern that the remark may cause unrest among non-Malays and reminded the Dewan Rakyat of the May 13, 1969 race riots.

“Is this a provocation towards the non-Malays, to declare war on Malays in our country? This is a very serious provocation. If the provocation is taken (seriously) by the non-Malays and a war is declared on the Malays, then surely a situation like May 13 will happen,” Ismail said.

Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan (PAS-Kota Baru) then remarked, “War is fine. We will welcome war if (they) want a war.”

This caused outrage in the House, with a visibly upset Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (BN-Pengerang) demanding to know who made the offending remark.

Takiyuddin then claimed ownership and repeated it for her benefit.

“I said, ‘If there is a declaration of war, we can welcome the war,’” Takiyuddin said.

Others such as Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) treated that as a clarion call and shouted that they should welcome war if it were to happen.

“Why fear?” Bung exclaimed.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof then told the MPs to watch their language.

He also reminded the lawmakers about the rules against racial incitement and expressed disappointment with the remarks welcoming war of any sort.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun yesterday said that the police have opened investigation papers on Lim, over his alleged remarks that the recent official alliance between Umno and PAS was a “war” on non-Malays.

He said police received 58 reports nationwide on this issue as at two days ago, and that the finance minister has yet to be called in to give his statement.

He said the case will be investigated under Seksyen 505© of the Penal Code for publishing a statement with intent to incite a community to commit an offence against another community.

Mohamad Fuzi said the police will investigate the case in full and record the necessary statements before referring it to the Deputy Public Prosecutor for further action.

He believed more may lodge reports against the DAP secretary-general, saying the police could not stop the public from lodging police reports.

As for accusations that the police were slow in investigating the case, he said the police had started investigating the case as soon as the first police report was lodged.

Lim was quoted in Malaysiakini on March 6 as saying that the Umno-PAS union was a declaration of “war” on non-Malays.

The portal then revised the article with an editor’s note that Lim had corrected his earlier statement.