THE Pakatan Harapan-led government must be smart and quick in handling race and religious issues that will be played up by the opposition in the coming months, said analysts.

They said failure to handle such sensitive issues will see the fall of the Anwar Ibrahim government.

They added that Perikatan Nasional (PN), especially Islamist PAS, will be emboldened to continue harping on these issues following the opposition coalition’s massive inroads in capturing Malay seats in the recent general election.

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) mass communications academic Liew Wui Chern said the recent Padang Serai parliamentary results showed PAS and its president Abdul Hadi Awang’s racial and religious rhetoric had an avid audience.

“Therefore, even after the general election is over, if it (PAS) continues to use this general election strategy and continues to spread fear in this regard, (PN) may have a chance (to govern) if the PH government crumbles.

“And I think the best way to deal with this is for Prime Minister Anwar’s coalition government to be careful in handling these religious or racial attacks from Perikatan Nasional,” he said.

He said the earlier PH government suffered from similar attacks, which led the Malay community to believe that it was a DAP-controlled government.

He noted that then, the Malay vote was divided, and PH wanted to win the community’s support.

Liew also said when then opposition Barisan Nasional and lynchpin Umno played up issues of religion and race, PH hurried to respond or appease them by making U-turns on policies like the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

On April 5, 2019, then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced that Malaysia was to withdraw from ICERD due to the confusion the issue had caused in the country in politics and the public.

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia, which signed the instrument of accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on March 4, 2019, and deposited the instrument to the United Nations secretary-general on the same day, could withdraw the instrument before June of that year.

Liew said such U-turns and uncertainty on policies also disillusioned core PH supporters, while the Malay voters felt the government was undecided.

He believed that this time around, PN will look out for issues that could force the government to make U-turns or give the impression that the majority community is being sidelined.

He felt the government must focus on the cost of living issue, which is still the biggest problem in the country.

“These issues will count for less if the government brings down the cost of living. It will help,” he said, noting that alleviation of economic hardship can often trigger impact reduction of other matters.

Right policies needed

Liew said the first test of PH and its policies will be its ability to counter PN in the coming state assemblies’ elections in Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

The government’s management of the economy and its effect in bringing down the cost of living should register positively for it in these elections.

UTAR Institute of Chinese Studies associate professor Chin Chong Foh, who specialises in Malay politics, said PH should be able to handle issues raised by PN, especially on PAS’ claim that DAP is spreading Islamophobia.

He noted that Islamophobia is a western concept and works in societies that do not have any understanding of Islam.

Since independence, Malaysia had been ruled by Umno for a long time, which is a Malay-Muslim party.

“People know Islam and what it stands for. In Malaysia, what non-Muslims fear is injustice, corruption, extremist religious ideas, and that our way of life will be changed.

“But in fact, the real value of Islam is to respect the way of life of other religions, as well as to fight corruption and support the weak,” he said.

He said the government should be able to counter PN’s narrative by making the right policies.

In a Facebook post on November 28, Hadi accused DAP of spreading Islamophobia and portraying PAS as an extremist Islam party.

PAS won an unprecedented number of seats on the back of a massive Malay vote swing in the poor northern “rice belt” states in the general election.

PAS now has a record 49 MPs in the Dewan Rakyat. – December 12, 2022.