KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal said that his party has filled the gap for voters who reject Umno, but still prioritise identity politics.

Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, who is also a senator, said that even the Chinese community practices identity politics, claiming that DAP has become the protector of the ethnic group’s communal interests.

"Why we vote on the racial line is because we do believe that these political parties not only represent Malaysian interests but also their communal interests.

"Why Pakatan Harapan (PH) failed is because is they did not prioritise sociological dimensions of Malay politics where currently the gap is filled by Perikatan Nasional,” he said in a TikTok video uploaded on his Twitter.

He claimed that he was under fire due to the statement he made yesterday saying that a "full-blown” liberal PH would not be favoured by the Malays because the community needs a protector, who syncs with its neo-feudal and tribal mentality.

News portal The Vibes reported the deputy national unity minister as saying that PH’s apparent push towards liberalism would backfire as it would steer the coalition even further away from the Malays who seek a "guardian” aligned with their identity politics.

He was reported as saying that the majority of Malaysians are also not ready to embrace the type of total liberal democracy PH aspires to achieve, adding that this was one of the reasons why his party decided to leave the then PH government in 2020.