KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak appeared to tell Muslims today that a vote for PAS was a vote for DAP, the day after MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek told Chinese voters the reverse.
Without naming either opposition party, the prime minister (picture) cautioned some 400 delegates at the Himpunan Ulama, Cendekiawan Islam dan Penulis Maya here that support for one “faction” will translate into backing for its partner as well. “Even if we vote for that faction, it is the one who sleeps in the same bed with them that will profit,” he said during his luncheon address, adding that he hoped online writers would get his meaning.
“The Chinese held a debate on Chinese at the crossroads. Muslims too are at a crossroads, more so since the general election is not far off. We must choose, and the one we choose must be able to guarantee the honour and purity Islam.”
Dr Chua warned the Chinese community during his debate with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng yesterday that a vote for the opposition party was a vote for PAS, which he claimed would impose its Islamist values on non-Muslims.
DAP would not be able to stop PAS from establishing an Islamic state in Malaysia should Pakatan Rakyat (PR) win federal power as “PAS is the taiko (big brother)”, the MCA president said.
Najib also said today that the assembly, which brought together ulama, Islamic scholars and bloggers, was “timely” as Muslims in Malaysia faced with serious challenges from “lies” in social media.
These challenges demand that Muslims stay ever more united and determined to ensure that national stability and the integrity of Islam could be defended, he stressed.
This could be achieved, Najib said, if the three groups worked with each other as well as the government to filter out from social media misinformation spread for political reasons.
He added that inaction would not only be detrimental to the country but Muslims themselves, as politics was an important “jihad” in Islam.
“This cooperation with government will become a bastion to defend the interests and honour of Islam,” he said.