PUTRAJAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) and PKR have no need to prove that they are “more Malay” than Umno or Bersatu, or “more Islamic” than PAS to win public support, says Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
The PH secretary-general said competition based on race and religion would only create a zero-sum game that brings no real benefit to the people.
Instead, he said political parties should be judged by their performance in government and their ability to solve the real problems faced by the people.
“We have been independent for almost 69 years, yet we are still fighting over the same old issues. To me, that kind of politics is destructive.
“It is impossible for PKR and me to claim that we are more Malay than Umno or Bersatu. I also cannot claim to be more Islamic than PAS. So who wins? It is a zero-sum game,” he told a press conference after the home ministry’s monthly assembly.
Saifuddin, the home minister, said those who resort to identity politics to stir public sentiment would not only fail to win, but would also fail to address the issues that genuinely affect people’s lives.
The PKR vice-president said an excessive focus on identity politics had allowed issues such as poverty and drug abuse to persist without receiving the attention they deserved.
“If we shift to performance-based politics, the people will get justice. Which states are the poorest? Based on the statistics, some states record the highest poverty rates.
“These poorer states are also associated with high rates of drug abuse per 100,000 population.
“Yet despite this, we only talk about identity politics – Malays, Chinese and Indians,” he said, expressing regret that the people were not given the opportunity to assess the government’s performance with such narratives.
“If we want to talk about Islam and the Malays being under threat, Malays are truly under threat when poverty is allowed to run rampant,” he said.
