KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Senator Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said that a "full-blown” liberal Pakatan Harapan (PH) is not favoured by Malays, as the community needs a "protector” who syncs with its new-feudal and tribal mentality.

News portal The Vibes reported the deputy national unity minister as saying that PH’s apparent push towards liberalism would backfire as it would steer the coalition even further away from the Malays who seek a "guardian” aligned with their identity politics.

He was reported as saying that the majority of Malaysians are also not ready to embrace the type of total liberal democracy PH aspires to achieve, adding that this was one of the reasons why his party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), decided to leave the then PH government in 2020.

"This is the problem with centre-left parties, including Muda. They downplay identity politics and think Malaysia is a liberal, mature democracy. This is not the case,” he said, referring to the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance led by Muar MP and former youth and sports minister, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

"In fact, even in the West, they too succumb to identity politics, because we live in a society where there are cultures, traditions and religions. All of these help shape voters’ judgement on which leader and party they want to support.

"When we left PH, why do you think the Malay votes came to us? It is because of the assurance to them that we are no longer kowtowing to the brand of liberal politics brought by PH,” Wan Fayhsal said.

He added that PH’s liberal brand of politics is unsustainable and that this will only wear away Bumiputera support.

He said that this was evident from PH’s dismal performance in the Melaka, Sarawak and Johor state polls.