KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa said he has proposed forming a national harmony and reconciliation commission to address extremism and bigotry in Malaysia.

He said this was among measures that the ruling Pakatan Harapan was considering as part of efforts to safeguard the country’s religious and communal ties.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department announced earlier in Parliament that the government will also table a law against religious and racial hatred soon.

"This is to ensure that all the races and religions in the country are protected,” he said at a seminar organised at Universiti Malaya today.

The minister said both the commission and proposed law will incorporate elements of the defunct National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), of which he used to be chairman.

He stressed, however, that the proposed law should be viewed as new.

Mujahid added that he planned to propose three laws, but said these were likely to be consolidated into a single piece of legislation encompassing components from the others.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers would also review all the proposals for suitability and redundancies, he added.

The minister said that while the Sedition Act and Penal Code have been used to address such offences before, these were not specifically aimed at racial and religious instigation.

"Anyone who incites hatred will be punished by these new laws,” he claimed.

Relevant stakeholders including academics as well as legal and religious experts will be invited to give their views during consultation meetings, the first of which is scheduled for July 31.

Earlier in his speech, Mujahid expressed his desire to see Malaysia and South-east Asian nations become a model of peace and harmony for the rest of the world.