Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s assurance of preferential treatment for Malay and other indigenous businesspeople when awarding contracts for the multibillion-dollar China-backed East Coast Rail Link has been sharply criticised by political analysts and the opposition for deviating from his administration’s pledge to enhance multiracialism.His government said it would continue affirmative action for Bumiputra companies – a term referring to the Southeast Asian nation’s Malay and other…