Churches laud Malay Rulers for urging political leaders to stop fanning racial, religious hatred
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — The Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) today thanked the Conference of Rulers for urging political parties to refrain from inciting racial disharmony following the conclusion of the 15th general election (GE15).
It also lauded the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for promoting what it termed "politics of reconciliation and unity" to replace toxic politics, subsequently preparing Malaysia for a phase of coalition politics.
"The CCM welcomes, with respect and gratitude, the decree of the Conference of Rulers that leaders of political parties are to cease and desist raising racial and religious issues to instigate or incite the public.
"The decrees of their Majesties for the government to instil the spirit of equality among the people and to emphasise the Rukunegara as the basis of Malaysian society are also timely and vital for the full functioning of the Malaysian polity under a unity government," it general secretary Reverend Jonathan Jesudas said in a statement.
The CCM also pointed out how the institution of constitutional monarchy has been "a great blessing to the nation".
"In the past few years, we have seen how the leadership and counsel of their Majesties, the Malay Rulers, individually, and jointly as the Conference of Rulers. have ameliorated and moderated the excesses of acrimonious party politics in Malaysia," Jesudas said.
He also expressed the prayers of the churches in the CCM will be with the nation, their Majesties and the various branches of government of Malaysia.
The CCM is an ecumenical fellowship of churches and Christian organisations in the country, and is one of the three constituent members of the umbrella coalition Christian Federation of Malaysia.
CCM's statement comes after Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir decreed yesterday that the Malay rulers are calling for political leaders to cease and desist from raising religious issues to flame public anger after chairing the 260th Conference of Rulers.
The conference came following a divisive GE15 which saw ethnoreligious rhetoric amped up by political coalitions, especially Perikatan Nasional (PN) and its component Islamist party PAS during campaigning.
Centre for Independent Journalism’s Social Media Monitoring Initiative had pointed to PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang as what it called “one of the key amplifiers of divisive, racist, intolerant and hate-based narratives”, while the initiative #KamiNampak categorised one of Hadi's remarks as “public incitement to genocide” as it contains elements that justify the erasure of individuals based on identity-based characteristics.
Social media users also pointed to TikTok posts warning about a possible repeat of the deadly May 13, 1969 race riots, carrying anti-Chinese messages, threatening violence, and questioning the religiosity of Malay-Muslims who voted for DAP.
Most of them were directed against supporters of Pakatan Harapan and some were affiliated with PN.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and the police have since summoned the management of TikTok after Malaysiakini reported that at least three such videos were published on the platform as part of “paid partnerships”.
PAS and PN continue to question the formation of the coalition government between Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional, believing that they should instead form the government despite not possessing the support of the majority of the Dewan Rakyat.
PAS has since attempted to undermine the PH administration by attacking component DAP with accusations that the party is Islamophobic and a "parasite" that will ruin the "Malay unity" government.
