KUALA LUMPUR: The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) is to be set up by end of the year to advise the
government on efforts at uniting various ethnic groups in the country.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said the National Unity and Integration Department with the cooperation of the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia had held several series of dialogues and round table discussions with several parties to obtain inputs on the formation of the council.
“Those participating in the dialogues gave their views from the perspective towards efforts at achieving national unity. We took the outcome from these dialogues to create the National Unity Plan (formation of NUCC) as suggested previously,” he said in an interview with Bernama.
Kurup said the dialogue sessions which were referred to as the ‘Consultation on Developing a National Agenda for Reconciliation’ had been held here on May 28, Kota Baharu (June 25), Putrajaya (June 28), Kuching (July 3) and Kota Kinabalu (July 4).
In addition, a workshop was also held at Universiti Putra Malaysia on July 13 and 14 to obtain the input.
“After the workshop, in the immediate future, we will present the input to the Cabinet for approval… We hope the NUCC can be created before yearend,” he said.
The suggestion for the formation of the NUCC was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Dewan Rakyat on June 26 as part of the efforts to achieve national unity and forge closer relations between the
people of various races in the country which appeared to have been split, leading to racial polarisation after the May 13 general election.
Several national figures including the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Yayasan 1Malaysia, Datuk Dr Chandra Muzzafar and board member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye had submitted several suggestions on the formation of the NUCC. — Bernama