Practise mature politics, advises Salleh

KUALA LUMPUR: With the approach of the 14th general election, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak has called on the people to switch to mature politics instead of clinging on to defamatory politics.
He said Malaysia was a democratic country that gave room to its people to participate in politics.
"Achieving political maturity is a shared responsibility. Appreciate the political stability that we have enjoyed thus far because peace and stability are very invaluable," he said in a post today on his blog.
Salleh said the people no longer needed the politics of slander and character assassination as well as the circulation of fake news because these bad practices could poison the minds of Malaysians who were civilised and of good moral character.
"We can have differences of political opinion and be in different political parties but let's not go to the extent of circulating fake news about the country, for example, spreading inaccurate news on the economic health of the country, corruption and crime rate without using the right data," he said.
Salleh said the government had released official data, so the people must not cite isolated examples to deny the success of the country simply because of differences in political opinion.
"This is what we mean by acknowledging political differences and opinions, but let's not go to the extent of neglecting national interests," he said.
He said the government was committed to curbing dirty and defamatory politics that could harm the country. — Bernama