GEORGE TOWN: A Pakatan Harapan lawmaker has lodged a police report against Perikatan Nasional chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for allegedly accusing the unity government of being run by non-Malays.
Bukit Bendera MP Syerleena Abdul Rashid urged police to investigate the former prime minister under Section 505 of the Penal Code as well as the Sedition Act 1948.
She questioned Perikatan's intentions and labelled as hypocrisy the coalition's alleged playing up of 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues to garner support for the six upcoming state elections.
“His (Muhyiddin’s) intention is clear, it is to divide the people with fear-mongering,” she said in a press statement on Monday (July 31).
She said the act of riding on religion to divide Malaysians for political gain is not only unethical, but a betrayal of the principles that unite the country.
"The abuse of race and religion in political campaigns is a dangerous path that threatens Malaysian society.
"(My polic report is) a warning about the consequences of such tactics.
"We need to realise the values and principles that guide political discourse in this country.
"Political leaders should be committed to higher standards of integrity and honesty, focusing on issues that truly affect the people, rather than exploiting racial and religious sentiments for short-term political gain," she added.
Syerleena said Muhyiddin had, at a press conference on June 22, said Perikatan would steer clear of 3R matters and address “important” matters such as the high cost of living.
"However, at a Perikatan talk last night (Sunday, July 30), Muhyiddin said that when he was home minister in the Pakatan Harapan government from 2018 to 2020, he had come under pressure from DAP not to allow an appeal against a High Court ruling on the use of the word 'Allah' by a Sarawakian woman in her religious learning," she said.
It was reported that Muhyiddin alleged that the "Allah" issue demonstrated that non-Malays were running the unity government.
"As a Malay leader, that is why I urged the Pakatan Harapan government to appeal (against the High Court ruling).
"Even if we had lost the appeal at the highest court level, we could have made a law on the Allah issue," Muhiyiddin was quoted as saying.
He claimed that the appeal did not proceed after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's unity government came into power last year.
The issue arose when Sarawakian Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill sought a court order to allow the use of the word “Allah” for the purpose of religious education in Malay and her native Melanau language in Sarawak.
On March 10, 2021, Justice Nor Bee Ariffin, who is now a Court of Appeal judge, ruled that a 1986 Home Ministry directive to prohibit the use of the words "Allah", "Baitullah", "Kaabah" and "solat" by non-Muslims was illegal and unconstitutional.
This follows the court's decision to allow a judicial review by Jill Ireland to practise her constitutional rights of practising her religion.
The legal action started in 2008 when eight CDs Jill Ireland had brought in from Indonesia were confiscated by Customs officers at an airport in Sepang as they contained the word "Allah".
The government filed an appeal, but on April 18, the Attorney General’s Chambers, representing the Home Ministry, notified the Court of Appeal that it did not wish to pursue the case.
