KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 — Opposition party DAP found an unlikely ally in the Malay rights group Perkasa in its fight against the government’s decision to grant three numbers-forecasting firms more permits for special draws.

Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said as an Islamic nation Malaysia should show that it does not depend on gaming revenue.

“I believe that other religions also forbid gambling. If the government can completely ban gambling, we welcome it wholeheartedly,” Syed Hassan told The Malay Mail Online.

Yesterday, DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke said the social cost from the 22 permits given to numbers forecasters Magnum, Sports Toto and Pan Malaysian Pools unit Damacai outweigh the Treasury’s expected tax receipt of RM150 million.

The new permits will take the number of special draws each week to four from three.

Citing a finance ministry statement in parliament, Loke said gaming taxes from the country’s six licensed lottery operators in Malaysia totalled RM6.3 billion from 2008 to 2012, or RM1.26 billion a year. The figures do not include tax receipts from Malaysia’s only casino owned by Genting Berhad.

Perkasa also responded favourably to Loke’s suggestion that the government create a separate account for tax receipts from the gaming sector to be used solely for the country’s non-Muslim minority.