PONTIAN, Nov 14 — Amanah deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub has challenged opposition parties accusing the Pakatan Harapan government of using racial sentiments while campaigning for the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election to substantiate the allegations.

Salahuddin said Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) needed to prove who among the PH leaders had allegedly played racial and religious sentiments during the campaign.

"Show the evidence or release it on video or in the media, who is the one in PH who had played up the racial issues...if they just say so then they are mere allegations. But the people who are truly playing up the religious issues are they themselves (BN),” he said during a press conference after visiting the Tanjung Piai by-election media centre at the Pontian Mini Stadium here, today.

Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki was recently reported to have claimed that PH leaders had played up racial sentiments throughout their election campaign in Tanjung Piai.

Meanwhile, when asked about the cooperation between MCA and PAS, with Umno as the middleman, which has seemed to gain ground recently, Salahuddin said it was merely for political interests.

The Pulai MP said PAS seemed to be ‘turning around in circles’ in voicing their support for BN candidates.

"In a recent statement they said voting for MCA this time was not wrong, but in (the) Cameron Highlands (parliamentary by-election), a so-called ‘fatwa’ was issued to make it mandatory to vote for a Muslim candidate,” he said. — Bernama