PAS president Hadi Awang has been asked to back up his claims that non-Muslims and non-Bumiputera were the root cause of corruption in Malaysia.

Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng and human rights group Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M), in separate statements, said the politician must not be allowed to make racist claims without evidence, and urged for action to be taken against him.

“The minister-level special ambassador made the statement without providing any evidence and statistics, which could cause division among Malaysians. Is that the intention?” said DAP’s Lim.

“Hadi can actually tell the people the real information since PAS is now part of the federal government and has ministers in the cabinet. 

“He can get official figures of corruption cases in our country as well as statistics (on the states with) most number of corruption crimes to prove his statement,” said the DAP lawmaker.

Lim urged the police to place Hadi under investigation for issuing incendiary statements.

Last week Hadi said that most of the perpetrators of corruption in Malaysia were non-Muslim and Non-Bumiputera.

He said only Muslims had integrity.

TI-M president Muhammad Mohan said Haji’s remarks were “baseless and provocative”.

“We seek to know the sources and data behind his claim. They smack of a narrow, myopic view on corruption and provoke feelings which are in direct antithesis with the prime minister’s concept of Keluarga Malaysia,” Muhammad said.

He added that such comments were deplorable, racist, slanderous and potentially seditious. 

“The parties making such publications and misrepresentations must be held accountable by the law enforcement and regulatory agencies in the country, such as the Royal Malaysian Police and Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission.” – August 22, 2022.