KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — Malaysians should not fear the "green wave” that appears to show increasing voter support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said on Twitter today.

The former two-time prime minister said Malaysia has been governed by a Malay-majority government for over 60 years and that there has been rapid development during that time.

"The non-Malays achieved a lot of progress.

"Don’t try to scare them with Malay rule by painting them green,” he tweeted in Malay, without naming or addressing anyone directly.

The colour green has been closely associated with Islamist party PAS and the "green wave” is seen as a sign of its growing popularity in the peninsula after the 15th general election last November.

PN captured 74 federal seats out of 222 in GE15 with PAS claiming 43 and Bersatu 31.

PAS now holds the greatest number of seats held by a single party in the Parliament, with the DAP in second place with 40 seats.

Perlis, which held simultaneous elections for both the state and federal seats, swung from the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition to PN.

In January, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang predicted that more states will fall to the "green wave” in the coming polls.

Selangor, Penang, and Negeri Sembilan which are controlled by the Pakatan Harapan coalition are among the six states in the peninsula that must hold their elections this year with their five-year mandate expiring.

The other three states that must also do the same are controlled by PAS: Kelantan, Kedah, and Terengganu.