KUALA LUMPUR – Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has called on the government to not take action against any party that expresses its support openly for a particular political party, following the 15th general election (GE15).
The Perikatan Nasional chairman said that the support involved is their right in a democratic country.
In fact, he said, the attitude of accepting everyone’s opinion despite different political beliefs can show that elections in Malaysia are conducted in a free, fair and truly competitive manner.
“I know many influential parties, including independent preachers and famous artists, gave open support to Perikatan Nasional in the last GE15.
“There are also parties expressing open support for other parties, including Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN).
“This is their right in a democratic country,” he said in a Facebook post, last night.
Muhyiddin said his comments come after reading the news about some famous preachers being banned from giving talks in mosques and on television.
He said he is also aware that there was a TikTok video of the preacher’s talk that was blocked.
The former prime minister said that he also watched a viral video about committee members of several mosques in Penang resigning because they claimed there was interference from the state government regarding the position of those elected by congregants.
“I hope the authorities do not take action against the preacher and the mosque committee, simply because of different political beliefs,” he said.
At the same time, Muhyiddin said, the authorities who administer Islamic affairs, should not restrict the spread and teaching of the religion based on the strict adherence to Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah, thus denying its people to gain knowledge in the gathering places of Muslims.
“Similarly, the management of the mosque is done by democratically electing the committee by the congregants, (it) should not be politicised by denying the Muslim congregation to manage their own mosque,” he said.
Before this, there was an uproar on social media about a WhatsApp screenshot revealing that the speaker, Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, was blocked from being a panellist in the Forum Perdana Ehwal Islam program published by Radio Television Malaysia.
The obstruction was alleged to have been ordered by the minister, but Ridhuan refused to comment further on the allegations. – The Vibes, December 27, 2022
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