PADANG SERAI: Perikatan Nasional (PN) denied allegations that the coalition is playing the racial and religious card in the Padang Serai 15th General Election (GE15) campaign.
Bersatu Information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan said PN was against Pakatan Harapan, in particular DAP, because of its leftist ideology.
"We are not rejecting DAP because of racial sentiment. We are against DAP because the strategy used by DAP to deny the rights of anyone who has differing opinions," he said after campaigning for the PN candidate for Padang Serai seat, Datuk Azman Nasrudin, in Taman Mahsuri here today.
"They are the one who are playing on racial sentiments that whoever rejects DAP is racist despite we having clarified that we are against DAP because of its leftist ideology.
"Our country was built on the right-wing philosophy.
"This is what we are trying to explain to the people."
Wan Saiful added that was the reason PN turned down the idea of forming a unity government led by PH.
"PN components had decided that we need a credible opposition. We can't allow a government dominated particularly by DAP to run the country without proper checks and balances in Parliament.
"That is the reason we have taken the stand that this (federal) government is not a unity government but a Pakatan Harapan government," he said.
The Padang Serai parliamentary seat was held by Pakatan Harapan's M. Karupaiya when he defeated MCA candidate Datuk Dr Leong Yong Kong and Mohammad Sobri Osman from Pas in the previous general election.
Karupaiya, 69, was nominated again by PH on Nov 5 to defend the seat.
However, he died on Nov 16 due to a heart attack suffered while campaigning.
With that, the Election Commission had postponed the Padang Serai polls to Dec 7.
Padang Serai has 133,767 eligible voters.
Azman is facing a six-cornered fight to wrest Padang Serai from PH, which has been holding the seat through PKR candidates since 2008.
He is up against PH candidate Dr Mohamad Sofee Razak; Datuk C. Sivaraj (BN); Mohd Bakhri Hashim (Parti Warisan); Hamzah Abdul Rahman (Parti Pejuang Tanah Air), and Sreanandha Rao (Independent).