Malaysia mulls new law to impose civil penalties against those playing up race, religion and royalty rhetorics

In issuing his final warning to all parties ahead of the upcoming state elections to not exploit issues touching on the 3R, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday said that the situation is currently monitored by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM).

Meanwhile, Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil was quoted as saying by The Star on Thursday that MCMC and PDRM will assess the need to form a special unit to look into cases relating to the 3R issues. 

Leading up to the six state polls on Aug 12, parties contesting in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan are stepping up their campaigning efforts. 

On Thursday, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Shah Alam filed a police report against Kedah chief minister Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor for allegedly insulting Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

According to The Star, the report was lodged by Shah Alam PKR information chief Suryamuizzudin Kamaruddin alleging that Mr Sanusi had undermined the Sultan of Selangor in a Perikatan Nasional (PN) political rally on Tuesday night.

In a viral video, Mr Sanusi – who is also a Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) assemblyman – appears to have belittled the appointment of Selangor chief minister Amirudin Shari.

“Muhammad Sanusi’s speech was uploaded on many social media channels such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter. (The speech) clearly undermined the Selangor sultan’s wisdom in appointing the Selangor chief minister,” Mr Suryamuizzudin reportedly said.

He also urged authorities to immediately investigate the matter, adding that politicians should not use political rallies to propagate attacks and insults against or harass the royal institution, which includes the prerogative of the ruler, according to The Star. 

Politicians currently under investigation for making remarks on race and religion ahead of the state polls include PAS chief Abdul Hadi Awang and Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Lim Guan Eng. 

PAS is a PN component party while DAP is a component party of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.