PETALING JAYA: No politician should use religion for political expediency as the Federal Constitution clearly stipulates the role of the nations' Rulers as guardians of Islam, says MCA's Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker.

"No politicians or political parties should claim monopoly of being the defender of the Malays or Islam.

"We have the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and the Rulers to uphold and safeguard the rights and position of Malays and Islam as enshrined under the Federal Constitution.

"We do not need fly-by-night politicians to tell us otherwise," the party's Religious Harmony Bureau chairman said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ti said that to assert that the Malays or Islam needed to be defended gave the impression that the Rulers or the Federal Constitution have failed.

He said Malaysia was built on the spirit of tolerance, compromise and consensus. However, of late, political greed and a lack of ethics appeared to be tearing the nation apart, he said.

"The nation has progressed smoothly since independence and there is no doubt of the ability of the Constitutional monarch to safeguard the position of the Malays and Islam as the religion of the Federation," Ti said, adding that there was no need for politicians to threaten in the name of Islam or the Malays.

He said the political rhetoric of "fighting for the Malays or Islam as if they are under siege or threatened" is no longer relevant and that new generation is now thinking of the future of the nation.

"The Government National Transformation Programme, the Economic Transformation Program (ETP) and Transformasi 2050 (TN50 ) are examples of progressive ideas that the people are looking for. The way forward now is about national transformation and progress as outlined by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"The era of political rhetoric, instilling political dependency and putting fear into the Malays or Muslims are over. The era of 'Malay Dilemma' is over," he said.

-The STAR-