PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s racist and extremist remarks about non-Muslims shows that the Marang MP is a clear and present danger to Malaysian unity, said Lim Guan Eng.

The DAP chairman said while Hadi cannot find evidence to back his claims that non-Muslims make up the majority of the “roots of corruption” and may be blind to the facts and figures, Malaysians must not be blinded by the hate preached by Hadi against minorities.

“He indulges in such dangerous and divisive rhetoric that will only serve his purpose to be the leader of only Muslims and ‘bumis’ (Bumiputeras) at the expense of non-Muslims and non-bumis. Not just the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, but the RM9 billion littoral combat ship scandal was also not perpetrated by non-Muslims or non-bumis.

“By putting a racial and religious slant on corruption with false and baseless claims, Hadi has clearly positioned himself to be the principal proponent against non-Bumi and non-Muslims in Malaysia.”

“Tragically, there are non-Muslim and non-Bumi component parties such as GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak), MCA, GRS (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah), MIC and Gerakan in the current government that not only condone such hate speech but support it (PAS) as their partner in power,” said the ex-finance minister.

The Marang MP in a Facebook post blamed non-Muslims and non-Bumiputera of making up the bulk of what he called the “roots of corruption” – those who chase illicit gains – to the detriment of the country’s economy and politics.

He said those involved in any form of corruption must be eradicated as they will not have the integrity to choose good leaders, and not choosing a good leader is also a sin.

He added that anyone these days can be corrupted whether they have a degree or a diploma, and only the Muslim faithful can be with integrity.

In a separate statement, DAP’s Malay leaders have asked Hadi why the country’s corruption index has worsened since the Islamist party became part of the government.

The DAP leaders said the cause of corruption should instead be blamed on the lack of political will among the nation’s leaders to eradicate the problem from its roots.

“Does he know that the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) shows countries like Denmark, Finland and New Zealand as among the top countries fighting corruption? Even our neighbouring country – Singapore – has left us far (behind). Those countries are not Muslim-majority, but their seriousness against corruption is much better than our country.”

“Rather than blaming a race, it’s better for Hadi to answer this first: Why has Malaysia’s Corruption Perceptions Index ranking worsened despite PAS being in the government since 2020?”

The statement was issued by Young Syefura Othman, Syahredzan Johan, and Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali. They are three of four Malay representatives in DAP’s central executive committee.

In CPI 2021 released earlier this year, Malaysia was ranked 62nd among 180 countries, dropping five spots from the rankings year before. – August 21, 2022.