What was to be a discussion on unity turned into a launchpad for political salvos when representatives of Umno and PAS locked horns live on TV1 last night.

The representatives were invited to debate on the topic 'Political organisations and non-governmental organisations as agents of unity'.

The Barisan Nasional was represented by Umno Kelantan liasion chief Annuar Musa and MCA parliamentarian for Ayer Itam Dr Wee Ka Siong. PAS was represented by central committee member Mahfuz Omar.

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner and unionist N Siva Subramaniam was the other panelist in the debate moderated by Johan Jaafar.

According to a Bernama report today, Wee 'turned up the heat' when he touched on how religious extremism could divide society.

In supporting the view, Annuar commented that the problem was caused by people who tried to manipulate religion to advance their political interests.

Negative portrayal

This irked Mahfuz, who complained that the opposition was always being portrayed negatively and this has created a culture of fear and influenced the way society viewed the opposition.

He said PAS was prepared to cooperate with all parties to promote unity because Islam enjoined its followers to work for unity.

"Unity is not solely reflected in assemblies or groupings but is also demonstrated in our respect for differences of opinions in society and our acceptance of differences in religion, race and political ideologies," he told an audience of about 400 people.

The live telecast from Angkasapuri was sponsored by the Information Ministry with the support of the Education Ministry, Higher Education Ministry and the Prime Minister's Department.

The debate was the fifth in a weekly series of shows to educate the public on issues of unity and national integration.