PETALING JAYA, May 2 ― Politicians will ramp up racial and religious rhetoric on the road to the general election, the Komunikasi Malaysia (KOMAS) group asserted today.

Its programme director, Adli Zakuan, said its data showed that both matters featured in as much as 80 per cent of campaigns so far.

The survey by the "Pemantau” coalition consisting of Bersih 2.0, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) and KOMAS discovered at least 20 cases where race and religion were used negatively in campaigning.

"We expect this trend to increase as we come closer to the polling day next week,” he said.

Many incidents took place on social media, he said, adding that such practices must end.

"We would like to remind all leaders of political parties and candidates of the 14th General Election that any statements that promote ill-will between different races is an offence under the Election Offences Act, Section 4a(1),” he said.

The group also urged the authorities to crack down on such offences.

The findings were presented by the working group for the Ratification of International convention on the Elimination of All forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD-WG), in collaboration with Bersih 2.0.

The working group consist of Islamic Renaissance Front, Lawyers For Liberty, Human Rights Committee of the Malaysian Bar, Projek Dialog, KOMAS, SUARAM, Society for the Promotion of Human rights and Tenaganita.