MUSLIM voters in Cameron Highland should reject Pakatan Harapan candidate M. Manogaran as he had questioned Islam previously, said an Umno leader.

In a move that shows the party’s reliance on race and religion to win the by-election on Saturday, Umno Supreme Council member Md Alwi Che Mat said Manogaran had questioned Islam’s position openly, referring to an interview which the DAP man had given to a news portal in 2010.

“With his attitude of questioning Islam, imagine what else he can do if he sits in Parliament and can question the federal government’s policies?” Md Alwi said in his Facebook posting today.

He said that in the old interview, Manogaran had said that Islam’s special position in Malaysia was not mentioned anywhere in the federal constitution.

“How can he as a lawyer have such a skewed view when he should be knowledgeable on matters on law and constitution?

“He should also be rejected as in another interview he had also rejected Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s position as the prime minister.”

Md Alwi said that Manogaran, in the second interview, had said that Dr Mahathir only spoke about human rights when it involves Muslims.

“Do we need such a leader as our MP, one who does not respect his leader and the position of Islam in Malaysia?”

The second interview was published in 2015 when DAP was not in any form of cooperation with Dr Mahathir, who was still with Umno then.

The Cameron Highlands by-election will see a four-cornered fight involving Manogaran, Barisan Nasional’s Ramli Mohd Nor and two independents.

Since Barisan Nasional’s defeat the previous general election, the coalition’s mainstay Umno is seen to be moving closer to PAS in order to regain and strengthen the Malay support by using the race and religious card. – January 22, 2019.