Darell Leiking, who was the international trade and industry minister in the previous Pakatan Harapan administration, also warned that the excessive use of racial and religious sentiments in politics has the potential to destroy the country.

The Warisan deputy president said the bickering among Umno, PPBM and PAS may well be the reason why global investors and multinational corporations (MNCs) were thinking twice about coming to Malaysia.

This, he said, had resulted in the country losing out in terms of foreign direct investments.

In a statement, Leiking said the reluctance of the ruling coalition to allow Parliament to reconvene would serve to reinforce the foreign investors’ perception that there were problems in the government.

“So, it is no surprise that Indonesia and the Philippines are now the preferred investment destinations by MNCs.

“Umno, PPBM and PAS cannot provide the stability and clarity in terms of policies that these investors want in the first place,” he said.

Leiking said the excessive use of race and religion as political themes by PN was also not helping to rejuvenate the country’s economy.

He said it was not the right time to talk about race and religion, adding that the country needed to save its economy because hundreds of thousands of ordinary Malaysians irrespective of race had utilised their Employees Provident Fund savings.

Racial division in Malaysia was becoming wider and foreign investors would want to avoid countries where racial tensions can disrupt their business activities, he said.