TAMPIN: Barisan Nasional does not need to terminate its electoral pact with Perikatan Nasional over the controversial remarks made by PN election director Sanusi Nor, says BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Zahid said he spoke about the matter during a BN campaign event at Port Dickson last night, which MIC president SA Vigneswaran attended.
“The MIC president was in front of me when I spoke. He was satisfied with my explanation. Even the prime minister has taken the same stance (on Sanusi’s remarks).
“Matters pertaining to race, religion and the royal institution must never be touched (in campaigning),” he said at a press conference at the Syed Sirajuddin military camp here today.
Vigneswaran had called for the BN-PN pact to be reviewed after Sanusi suggested that different ethnic groups in Malaysia can fall back on ancestral homelands outside the country.
The MIC president said BN should consider contesting future state elections on its own, as repeated statements by certain PAS leaders on race and religion could affect BN’s appeal to multiracial voters.
He also urged PAS to learn from Amanah, which he described as adopting a more inclusive approach in promoting Islam.
Sanusi, who is also the PAS election director, has claimed that his remarks were distorted for political gain and threatened to take legal action against those responsible.
