"Such questions are important before you want to evaluate us. Stop resorting to ‘kolot’ (old-fashioned) and ‘jumud’ (backward) narratives."

– Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim responding to PAS chief Abdul Hadi Awang

COMMENT | First of all, I have no idea why Hadi’s narratives are considered “kolot” and “jumud” when they are in fact racist.

It is not as if Hadi’s ideas on race relations and religious hegemony could be waved away as quaint or eccentric. The existential crisis facing this country is not corruption but religious extremism.

So why is it that the prime minister feels the need to include PAS in this unity government? What does this say about unity in this country if PAS joins the government?

What does it say about this Madani government if a political party, which routinely demonises non-Malays goes against the wishes of the royal institutions and has proclaimed itself as the gatekeeper of Islam, joins the government?

What does this say about...