Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming said Malaysia’s absence from the Summit for Democracy, organised by the office of the US president last week, was a lost opportunity and sent a poor signal for the future direction of Malaysia’s foreign policy.

“This was a short-sighted and unstrategic move, which points to a larger lack of coherence and independent thinking in our foreign policy direction,” he said in a statement.

Ong also said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob could have used the opportunity to showcase a new phase of political maturity in Malaysia, such as the signing of the memorandum of understanding with opposition parties and the lowering of voting age to 18.

“Instead, the prime minister was too caught up with the celebration of his 100-day Malaysian Family Aspirations programme,” he said.

He said an issue that could have been raised by the prime minister at the summit was Malaysia’s hedging strategy in geopolitics with other big players in Southeast Asia.

“Will Malaysia’s non-participation in this summit be interpreted by some that we are tipping over to one side in this tricky balancing act?” he asked.