KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — A group of 70 Malay professors and academics today published its criteria for the political coalition that should receive public support at the ballot this Saturday, including calling for the rejection of candidates who rely on slander and exploit ethnoreligious sentiments.

The group also declared its endorsement for Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be prime minister, saying he is the only political leader with the quality, experience and integrity to lead a diverse society based on Islam as the religion of the federation, and to fix Malaysia's global image.

"Together with his team in PH this 15th general election, he is the best choice to take Malaysia out from the economic doldrums leading to future prosperity, and at the same time guaranteeing that Islam and the interests of Malays and the natives stay intact," said the group naming itself G70, in a statement.

The group listed Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's (UKM) Prof Datuk Wan Ramli Wan Daud as its spokesman and Universiti Selangor's (Unisel) Prof Saadiah Mohamad as its coordinator.

It appears to be backed by the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim), of which Anwar was one of its founders.

Leading the list of 70 were 11 professors emeritus: Datuk Osman Bakar, Datuk Mohd Yusof Othman, National Laureate Muhammad Salleh, Datuk Ahmat Adam, Datuk Jamil Osman, Shaharir Mohamad Zain, Ismawi Zen, Datuk Md Tahir Md Azhar, Datuk Hassan Basri, Md Nordin Lajis, and Abdul Aziz Jemain.

The group listed five calls to Malaysian voters, including to vote for the coalition that supports national unity and justice, and those who are free from corruption.

It also urged Malaysians to vote for the coalition that focuses on good governance and eradicating abuse of power.

"Malaysians are urged to reject candidates that use slander to get support from voters, and exploit religious and racial sentiments, by pitting the public against each other in order to gain partisan political benefits," it said in its declaration.

Ahead of today's declaration released at the Armada Hotel in Petaling Jaya, the National Professors' Council (MPN) yesterday released a statement dissociating itself from the group.

MPN insisted that those who have retired can no longer use the "professor" title and are "members of certain movements".