Merdeka Day, he said, should have a common, unifying theme which every Malaysian could rally around, regardless of their differences.

"National Day should be about binding the people together. This includes not just those of various ethnic or religious groups, but also those who hold different political beliefs," he said.

Chandra was responding to Pakatan Rakyat's announcement yesterday that all PR-led states would adopt the theme Sebangsa, Sejiwa, Senegara as their main Merdeka theme, in addition to separate state-level themes.

The decision came after PR-led states Kedah, Kelantan and Penang all opted to keep their state-level themes, despite calls from the coalition's central leadership to adopt a single main theme.

Chandra said it was the first time in history that Malaysia had seen multiple themes announced for its National Day celebrations on Aug 31.

"The opposition can't even agree on a theme among themselves," Chandra said.

"It is not healthy. It sets a bad precedent and is not good for Malaysia's image.

"To politicise the National Day theme is simply not good for the country."