JOHOR BARU July 6 — Johor PKR’s federal lawmaker Hassan Abdul Karim called on former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to stop issuing further remarks against the notion of a multiracial Malaysia.

The outspoken Pasir Gudang MP penned a short poem in Malay, entitled Puisi Untuk Mahathir (A Poem for Mahathir), late last night:

Anda seorang negarawan Biarlah itu yang kami kenang

Usah ditafsir semula Perlembagaan hanya membawa perpecahan

Jangan dibakar bumi ini Usah dicurah minyak dan spirit musnah kami nanti mati menjerit

Biarkanlah kami, Tun bina negara bangsa di sini.

The poem urged Dr Mahathir to cease and desist from reinterpreting the Federal Constitution in a way that only aims to divide Malaysians.

The poem added that doing so would also destroy the country by further stoking the flames of division.

Hassan reminded Dr Mahathir, who helmed the country as prime minister twice, that he was regarded as an elder statesman but his recent stand against multiculturalism was not what Malaysians wanted to remember him for.

He also called on the former Langkawi MP to pass on the task of nation building to the next generation of politicians.

On July 3, Dr Mahathir triggered criticism when he claimed that promoting Malaysia as a multiracial country is against the Federal Constitution.

He also tweeted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was purportedly beholden to the DAP even though the party only had four ministers in the Cabinet.

Dr Mahathir further claimed in a series of tweets that the DAP had a "manifesto” to turn the country into a multiracial one without an official religion, and that the Anwar’s administration would collapse if the party’s 40 MPs chose to withdraw their support for the PKR president.