KUALA LUMPUR – All parties, especially politicians, must avoid touching on sensitive issues involving race, religion and the royal institution (3R) when campaigning in the coming state elections in six states for the sake of harmony among the people, say experts.

Security and political analyst Dr Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin said that touching on the aspect of 3R in the campaign can cause strife among the community and harm the country, in addition to contradicting the original purpose of politics, which is to fight for the people’s rights.

“The people should understand that politics aims to raise issues of interest to the people, not create disputes.

“The duty of politicians, meanwhile, is to take care of their state and Parliamentary constituencies to ensure that solutions to the problems and interests of the people can be resolved perfectly.

“The campaign carried out must also uphold the principles of the Federal Constitution and Rukun Negara,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Noor Nirwandy, also the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Centre For Media And Information Warfare Studies senior lecturer, said several legal provisions can be imposed on any party that tries to touch on 3R-related issues.

For example, he said action can be taken against those who try to polemicise matters that are enshrined in the Federal Constitution and Rukun Negara under the Sedition Act 1948, Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and Penal Code (Act 574).

Noor Nirwandy also proposed that politicians follow a national security course as one of the conditions before contesting in the election to ensure they understand the boundaries that need to be respected and obeyed as politicians.

kredit: https://www.sinardaily.my/article/199048/malaysia/politics/state-polls-dont-touch-on-3r-issues-for-the-sake-of-harmony-among-people—experts