Muhyiddin apologises for PAS man’s ‘go to hell’ remark

 

Muhyiddin Yassin said the issue should not be blown out of proportion and called on voters to focus on what PN could offer. (Facebook pic)

BATU PAHAT: Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin has apologised to those offended by a PAS leader’s statement that voters would “go to hell” if they chose Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the general election (GE15).

“I don’t really like making statements like that,” said Muhyiddin.

“It’s important to avoid statements that could cause misunderstanding among voters,” he added after attending a youth programme here.

Sik PAS Youth chief Shahiful Nasir yesterday apologised for the statement after admitting saying it at a ceramah on Thursday night.

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Shahiful had drawn flak over his remark, with netizens ridiculing the PAS leader, who is also an ustaz.

Acknowledging that his statement had offended many, he asked the public to stop spreading the recording of his speech “for the sake of harmony” and to ensure GE15 would be “free from racial or religious issues”.

At the event here today, Muhyiddin said the issue should not be blown out of proportion and called on voters to focus on what PN could offer the public.

Better support for PN

While he was encouraged by a recent survey which found growing support for the coalition among Malays, Muhyiddin said it was too early to see how this would affect PN’s showing at the Nov 19 polls.

“The important thing is that we already know there is an improvement,” he said.

“However, we cannot draw any conclusions now. The important thing is to wait until Nov 19,” he said.

Ibrahim Suffian, programme director at the public opinion research centre Merdeka Center, yesterday said PN would be the “wildcard” in GE15 as the coalition is projected to gain swing votes from the Malay electorate.

During a webinar titled “Malaysia’s Upcoming General Election: Players, Issues and Possible Outcomes”, Ibrahim said that if PN is able to gain more than 50% of the Malay vote in the general election, the outcome would be “fatal” to BN.

He said voter sentiment reflected the perception that PN was a much “cleaner and uncorrupted” alternative to BN and a coalition that championed the rights and interests of Malays. - FMT