Muslims need more voice in Anwar's govt and a sorry from DAP, says Perlis mufti

Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin today suggested that parties with Muslim dominance join the new government if they are concerned about the influence of other parties in the administration. 

"I think that parties with Muslim dominance should join this new government if they are concerned about the dominance of parties in the government that may bring things which clash with the country's identity or damage the integrity of the administration," he said, in an apparent reference to Perikatan Nasional which won 73 seats after thrashing their opponents in predominantly Malay seats.

"With strong support, the new government need not worry about threats by certain groups to leave the government if their demands are not met." 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in his first media conference after being sworn into the top office yesterday had extended an invitation to PN to join what he described as a "unity government".

Several initial analyses have confirmed pre-election surveys indicating that PH was struggling to win over Malay support. 

Political analyst Bridget Welsh reportedly said that PH only had 11% of the Malay votes in the election, and BN 33% while PN got 54%.

Islamist party PAS meanwhile dominated the gains, winning 49 federal seats, more than triple the number of seats it won in 2018.

'Sorry to Muslims, too'

In a Facebook post, Asri also proposed that DAP apologise to the Malay Muslims as it had done to Gabungan Parti Sarawak.

He said this would help ease the feelings of the majority and begin a better resolution on protecting the sensitivities of the Muslims and Malays. 

"If DAP refuses, it will be seen as maintaining the identity that caused concern and rejection by the Muslims before this," he said.

DAP top leaders Anthony Loke and Lim Guan Eng had earlier publicly apologised to GPS over statements mocking the Sarawak coalition.