KUALA LUMPUR: For linking the prime minister's 1Malaysia concept with the "One Israel" slogan, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim came under fire from Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin in parliament on Thursday, March 18.

Khairy refuted Anwar's claim that the prime minister's concept was akin to the slogan adopted by former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, and demanded that Anwar substantiate his allegations.

Khairy (Rembau-BN) criticised Anwar for suggesting on Wednesday that Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia was a result of consultation with APCO Worldwide, the international strategic communications company engaged by the government.

In the debate on Thursday, Khairy quoted a statement released by APCO denying that the company had been involved with a public relations campaign relating to the “One Israel” concept and that APCO had represented the Israeli government or Barak.

"Contrary to statements made in Malaysia's parliament, 1Malaysia was conceived by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak prior to the government of Malaysia retaining APCO.

"APCO had no role of any kind in creating the 1Malaysia concept, which was fully formed, and made public, prior to APCO's engagement... The statement in Malaysia's parliament that APCO was involved in such a campaign is false," Khairy said, reading the statement.

Khairy's remarks on Thursday sparked off a verbal battle as DAP leader Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur-DAP) touched on the 1Malaysia concept.

Lim had challenged Umno leaders in the House to stand up and declare that they were "Malaysians first and Malay second".

"I declare that I am Malaysian first and Chinese second. Is every cabinet minister prepared to make a similar declaration?" Lim said.

The veteran parliamentarian also contended that 1Malaysia meant "a thousand-and-one" different things to Najib's government and stressed that Barisan Nasional should agree to let an opposition leader head a parliamentary select committee on 1Malaysia.

At a press conference later, Khairy challenged Anwar to repeat his allegations outside the Dewan Rakyat so that legal action can be taken against the opposition leader.

Asked to comment on the matter, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, who is in charge of parliamentary affairs, said he had no power to decide whether action should be taken against Anwar for making false statements in the House.

According to Nazri, such a move fell under the jurisdiction of the Select Committee chaired by the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.

Nazri added that he would raise the matter at the cabinet meeting before conveying any decision to the Select Committee.

"For a Muslim leader (Najib) to be associated with a Zionist government is serious as you know we support Palestine and we're against the Zionist Israeli administration," Nazri said.