KUALA LUMPUR – The Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition employed the largest amount of racial and religious rhetoric during the Melaka election campaign, beating out both Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN).
This is based on the findings of a social media monitoring project undertaken by human rights group Pusat Komas in collaboration with Zanroo Malaysia throughout the Melaka polls from November 1 to 22 last year.
According to the study, PN scored the highest mentions at 56%, believed to be due to their campaign slogan of “Islam Menyatukan Ummah (Islam Unites the Community)” and their repeated calls for the closure of 4D gaming outlets in Kedah and a change to the “Timah” whiskey brand’s name.
PH recorded a score of 39%, with messages in the category mostly focused on promoting an inclusive policy for all Malaysians regardless of race, religion and background while also criticising BN for racial divisiveness and crony culture.
Meanwhile, only 25% of BN’s messages emphasised race-based policies which advocated the narrative of Bumiputera rights and privileges, and pushed for the necessity of upholding the national language.
Other categories considered in the analysis were messages related to political issues, attacks between parties, and posts or comments that mention economic matters such as Budget 2022.
Besides monitoring and documenting public conversations, statements and actions of politicians and political parties, the project had also taken note of and analysed posts from official channels and spokespersons of parties.
Speaking at a press conference on the findings today, Pusat Komas programme director Ryan Yumin Chua theorised that the results of the study imply that most racial and religious discourse online were driven by remarks made by politicians themselves.
“The timing when topics such as the gambling ban in Kedah and Timah’s namesake were raised was concerning as they were only raised during the electoral period, which suggests that these issues were initiated to stir voters’ emotions and to influence their voting decision,” he said.
Commenting on the findings, Ryan alleged that there will be long-term consequences for the persistent usage of racially and religiously charged messages by politicians attempting to appeal to voters of a particular ethnicity.
“Though there were parties who were banking on messages of unity, the ongoing exchanges between coalitions accusing one another of being racist may become more prominent, diluting the message conveyed.
“If race and religion continue to be used by coalition parties in upcoming elections, it may further exacerbate interethnic tension and hinder nation-building exercises,” he said
Noting that Pusat Komas will also be continuing their social media monitoring project for the looming Johor polls while assisting the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), Ryan asserted that politicians and political parties must align their actions with their words.
“It is ironic that on one hand, they are calling for a united Malaysia through the Keluarga Malaysia campaign while on the other hand, they are campaigning for a particular ethnic and religious group.
“Therefore, we call upon all politicians and political parties to practice what they preach and not backtrack on the policies that they introduce at the federal level,” he said, adding that citizens should also hold their elected representatives accountable.
“As voters, we have the responsibility to carefully scrutinise our electoral candidates before voting for them.
“We need to choose wisely and denounce politicians and political parties that exploit race and religion for their own benefit.” – The Vibes, February 21, 2022
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