{
  "id": 18050261,
  "title": "Sabah Pakatan chief condemns use of religious sentiment in political debate over parliamentary agreement",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/04/sabah-pakatan-chief-condemns-use-of-religious-sentiment-in-political-18050261",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-04T01:03:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Malay Mail",
    "slug": "malay-mail-malaymail",
    "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/11/04/sabah-pakatan-chief-condemns-use-of-religious-sentiment-in-political-debate-over-parliamentary-agreement/241884"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "KOTA KINABALU, Nov 4 — Sabah Pakatan Harapan chairman Datuk Mustapha Sakmud has cautioned political entities against leveraging religious sentiment to undermine opponents' strategies in the aftermath of remarks implicating the parliamentary democracy in an apocalyptic figure. The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) expressed disapproval of a comment by PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, who was accused of likening the Confidence and Supply Agreement (CSA) approach to \"Dajjal\" (Deceitful Messiah). Mustapha emphasized that such a label was alien and could bewilder Muslims in Sabah, questioning the appropriateness of using end-times terminology to discredit those with opposing viewpoints. He argued that the CSA could be rationally debated within the context of parliamentary democracy without invoking religious sentiment to disparage differing perspectives. Mustapha pointed out that the CSA approach had been utilized in the past when PAS was a part of the federal government, thereby questioning the grounds for denigrating the mechanism. He underscored that the rich tapestry of religion, ethnicity, and cultural backgrounds in Sabah had long been instrumental in fostering unity among the multiracial society and urged against using such divisions to incite animosity among Sabahans. He strongly denounced portraying fellow Muslims negatively solely on the basis of differing political affiliations. Mustapha reiterated that religion serves to unite, not to divide, and stressed that Sabah does not require a lecture on unity from those who persist in labeling each other. He solicited the collective commitment from all Sabahans to preserve the harmony they have cherished and strongly condemned divisive political practices that exploit religion for personal gain, while implored all parties to seek common ground in securing the welfare of the populace.",
  "summary": "KOTA KINABALU, Nov 4 — Sabah Pakatan Harapan chairman Datuk Mustapha Sakmud has reminded political part...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}