PORT DICKSON: All parties must refrain from spreading slander and false information for political gain during the campaign for the Negri Sembilan election, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister and Pakatan Harapan chairman said he had himself been the target of false claims.
“One of my officers showed me a message that read ‘Anwar called people together to spread propaganda among the military’.
“I was stunned. Politics has come to this. They simply cut and paste things before presenting them as my statement,” he said.
“I am not perfect, and I have many weaknesses. I have made mistakes in my life, and, if I have said or done anything wrong, I apologise. But do not slander me,” he added at the Semarak Kenegaraan programme.
Anwar also reflected on the many false accusations and unfair treatment he had endured throughout his life, expressing hope that others would learn from those experiences.
He said it is important to refrain from using slander as a means of achieving political success.
At another event, Anwar said Malaysians must put an end to race-based politics, reject leaders who sow division and support those committed to unity, good governance and integrity.
The people should instead resolve to fight corruption and racism while strengthening unity across all communities, he said.
“The old politics of fear, of race, and of hatred must end,” he said at a PKR youth event.
Anwar also took aim at former party members who won elections on PKR’s ticket, saying they had been elected on the strength of the party’s reform agenda.
Without naming anyone, he said some former party members, who are now questioning PKR, had secured victory because voters believed in the party’s ideals of justice and reform.
