THE unity government will not tolerate any attempts to divide the people, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.

Anwar said he wasn’t afraid and was open to criticism, but inciting the country’s multi-racial society to conflict was not acceptable.

“I do not agree that the Sedition Act should be used against those who criticise the prime minister and the government, but we will not tolerate anyone who tries to incite or slander to the point of touching on the 3R (rulers, race, religion). Let the police take action.

“You can criticise anything and anyone… but if you use sentiments, incite Malays to hate Chinese, incite people to use religion to accuse others of infidelity… I will not tolerate it,” he said.

Anwar was speaking at the Madani Unity mega ceramah held in conjunction with the Pulai Parliamentary by-election at Taman Uda Utama, Perling, last night.

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi and Suhaizan Kaiat, Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) candidate for the Pulai parliamentary seat.

Anwar, who is also PH chairman, said the people must reject parties that only play up politics of hatred and extremism.

He said they relied on the sentiment that DAP is preventing the government from helping the people, especially the Malays, when DAP had always supported all initiatives for the people regardless of race.

“DAP is with PH. If DAP rejects the Federal Constitution, we (PH) will fight it (DAP). If it does not accept Islam as the official religion, we will oppose. But they have accepted all these,” he said.

Meanwhile, the prime minister said the government will continue to govern the country based on Madani economic framework to safeguard the welfare of the people, even if the initiatives introduced are rejected or belittled by the opposition.

“Because we made these changes (policies and initiatives to help the people) they (the opposition) can’t stand it. They want to say we are not doing our work, when they know we are doing it.

“They can continue to dream of taking over Putrajaya, when the current government continues to work to save the country and the people with the economic roadmap,” he said.

The prime minister also assured that government would continue to prevail for the full term based on the performance of the economy and the influx of new foreign investment into the country.

He said the success achieved in more than eight months since the formation of the unity government was the result of the focus and energy of all parties involved.

The Pulai and Simpang Jeram seats were vacated due to the sudden death of incumbent Salahuddin Ayub on July 23.

The Election Commission has set for both by-elections to be held simultaneously, with early voting tomorrow, followed by polling day on Saturday. – Bernama, September 4, 2023.