Kuala lumpur: Malaysians should move away from divisive identity politics and embrace performance-based politics focused on addressing the real issues facing the people, Pakatan Harapan (PH) secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said. He emphasized that after nearly 69 years of independence, political discourse should no longer revolve around race and religion, but instead focus on evaluating the government's performance in addressing challenges, including poverty.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Saifuddin Nasution, who is also Home Minister, stated that identity politics is inherently destructive because it only creates division without producing real solutions or winners. "It has been 69 years since we gained independence, yet we are still fighting over the same old issues. To me, this is destructive politics. Identity politics is a zero-sum game - there are no winners," he explained. Saifuddin highlighted that it is impossible for him and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to claim that they are more Malay than UMNO or Bersatu, nor can they 'out-Islamic' PAS, whose niche is as an Islamic party.

Saifuddin further elaborated that performance-based politics enables the people to assess a government's actual achievements, including its efforts to tackle poverty and drug abuse. He noted that poverty must be given serious attention as it is closely linked to various social challenges, including higher rates of drug abuse in certain areas. "If we focus on performance-based politics, the people will get a fair assessment. Which state is the poorest? If we look at the statistics, what is the second issue associated with poor states? They record the highest incidence of drug abuse in Malaysia per 100,000 population," Saifuddin said.

He pointed out the irony in the current political discourse, where despite significant socio-economic challenges, conversations are dominated by identity politics. "When poverty is at its worst and drug abuse is at its highest, suddenly all we talk about is identity politics... Malays, Chinese, Indians. Why? Because people are not given the opportunity to scrutinise performance-based politics," he remarked.

Saifuddin emphasized that poverty should also be viewed as a societal challenge that impacts the well-being of families, particularly their ability to focus on children's education. Earlier in his speech, he urged the people to judge the government based on its efforts to strengthen the economy and eradicate poverty, rather than remain trapped in debates over identity politics. He added that performance-based politics is about everyone working together to grow the country's economic pie so that everyone gets a bigger share of it.