KOTA KINABALU, March 26 — Parti Warisan Sabah today criticised the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government and Muafakat Nasional (MN) over their internal feuds and excessive racial and religious politicking that he said could potentially destroy the country.

Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking said that the bickering among Umno, Bersatu and PAS is likely the reason why global investors and multinational corporations are casting Malaysia aside in favour of Indonesia and the Philippines in terms of foreign direct investments (FDIs).

"No right-minded foreign investor will want to spend billions of ringgit in a country where a non-democratically mandated ruling coalition continues to fight among themselves even after taking over a legitimate government that was overthrown by several selfish individuals.

"And the reluctance by this same ruling coalition to allow the Parliament to reconvene will only serve to reinforce foreign investors’ perception that the country is now ruled by a junta,” he said in a statement today.

He said it was no surprise that the Philippines and Indonesia were moving ahead and leaving Malaysia behind as the PN government could not provide stability and policy clarity.

The former minister of international trade and industry also said that inter-party squabbling was centred too much on racial and religious politics, which is also exacerbating the problem.

"This is not the right time to talk about race and religion — we need to save and rejuvenate our economy because hundreds of thousands of ordinary Malaysians irrespective of whether he/she is a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dayak, KadazanDusun or Bajau have already utilised their EPF as their last lifeline to survive.

"But PN seems to have misplaced priorities when the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) now wants to table the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355) and Control and Restriction on the Propagation of Non-Muslim Bill,” he said.

Leiking, who is Penampang MP, said that globally the world is trying to move forward from racist policies through sport and education, with global corporations adopting non-discriminative policies. In contrast, Malaysia seemed to be regressing.

"Foreign investors will always want to avoid countries where racial tensions and clashes will disrupt their business activities,” he said.

"Many of those who spend time talking about race and religion can afford to do so because they are financially well off but thousands of Malaysians who were pushed to the brink of poverty line can’t — they desperately need better jobs and business opportunities to make up all the losses when their savings they were utilised last year,” he said.

Leiking said that PN had lost the confidence of several investors which had come in during the Pakatan Harapan government’s time due to its inefficient administration.

"Even Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yasin’s trip to UAE was overshadowed by the United Arab Emirates’ decision to invest US$10 billion in Indonesian’s Investment Agency, a sovereign wealth agency and this tells us (1) how slow PN is to act when it comes to post-pandemic economy; and (2) the amount of trust the Arabs have towards Indonesian leaders,” he said.

"While Indonesia is enjoying foreign investments, Malaysians will continue to be divided because of the race and religion cards played by PN and its political partners,” he said.