PN doesn’t play up 3R issues, says Wan Fayhsal

The report found racial and religious narratives offending others dominating social media platforms during the elections. It identified PAS and its president Abdul Hadi Awang as the main actors contributing to racial narratives.

(FMT) – Bersatu Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal has rejected the notion that Perikatan Nasional tends to play up issues related to race, religion and royalty (3R).

The Machang MP claimed the 3R accusations levelled at PN were stereotypes and a “stigma” propagated by pro-Pakatan Harapan media outlets that had not sufficiently engaged with PN MPs.

He added that PN lawmakers had raised substantive matters during Parliament sessions, even though these topics might not receive as much attention as issues like EPF withdrawals.

“During the debates on Budget 2023 and the royal address, the opposition presented commendable ideas, such as on green energy. I raised the issue of outbound investment and sustainable development,” he said in an episode of the “Keluar Sekejap” podcast with former Umno leaders Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan.

He acknowledged that PN’s weakness was in highlighting development issues. “There must be a shift in our campaign strategy and (the Selangor polls) will offer that opportunity,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Centre for Independent Journalism, in collaboration with Nottingham University Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sabah, released a report based on its monitoring of social media platforms during the last general election.

It found that out of 117,152 postings on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok, 66,933 touched on racial issues while 24,484 involved religious issues.

The report also found racial and religious narratives offending others dominating social media platforms during the elections. It identified PAS and its president Abdul Hadi Awang as the main actors contributing to racial narratives.

PAS is a component of the Muhyiddin Yassin-led PN.