Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah have reaffirmed their commitment to continue supporting the government led by Anwar Ibrahim until the end of the current administration’s term.
Government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said the prime minister had also expressed appreciation to the coalitions for their continued backing.
“Such commitment reflects the priority given to the interests of the people and the country,” he said during a press conference after today’s Cabinet meeting.
Early election speculation emerges
Last Sunday, Anwar, who is also chairman of Pakatan Harapan, reportedly hinted that he could call for an early general election if cooperation within the unity government continued to face disruptions.
He said he would meet leaders from coalition parties to discuss the matter following BN Johor’s announcement that it intended to contest all 56 seats in the next state election.
PH Johor later also announced plans to contest all 56 seats.
Relations between PH and BN were further tested last month after 14 Umno assemblymen in Negeri Sembilan withdrew support for Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun from PKR following controversy involving the royal institution.
However, Umno later reaffirmed its support for the unity government in Negeri Sembilan in the interest of political stability.
Government addresses privacy concerns
In a separate development, Fahmi said the government would ask the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to engage with media organisations regarding concerns over privacy in the implementation of social media age verification for users under 16.
He said the use of official documents such as MyKad for age and identity verification was already common practice in Malaysia.
“From a policy perspective, we recognise that in our country today, documents such as MyKad and others are already used for verification purposes, including for the use of e-wallets.
“Therefore, from a policy standpoint, we do not see any contradiction in implementing age verification using official government documents when other sectors in the country already apply similar practices,” he said.
Personal data laws to apply
Fahmi also said personal data protection laws would apply in the handling of information collected through the verification process.
The government’s remarks came amid ongoing discussions over balancing online safety measures with concerns surrounding user privacy and data protection.
