The think tank’s external relations manager, Azrul Mohd Khalib, said too much politicking interfered with the discussion of real issues.

Commenting on federal minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s call on the opposition to discuss policies instead of politicking, he said both the opposition and the establishment were guilty of excessive politicking.

“The portrayal of the opposition parties as being unconstructive and detrimental to the country must stop,” he said in an interview with FMT.

“What must also cease is the portrayal of the government as the source of all things gone wrong.”

He said debate on any policy needed to be based on evidence and clear rules of accountability and transparency.

“There are always two sides to an argument and it is necessary for this to be understood and accepted. The practice of debate and argumentation is not negative, and is the bedrock of our democracy.”

Both opposition and ruling politicians must meet the challenge of being world class in their arguments, politics and policies, he said.

“They are, after all, both serving the people. Let’s not forget that. We must hold them to that standard.”

Political analyst James Chin of the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute said it wasn’t possible to change the nature of political discourse because race and religion were still the main issues in Malaysian politics.

“It’s talk about race and religion that make headlines,” he told FMT. “For the Malay community, you have to talk about Islam. For the Chinese, it is vernacular education.

“Everything in Malaysia, sooner or later, will be tied to race and religion.”

On Tuesday, Rahman called on the opposition to clearly state its stand on the economy, foreign policy and various other issues. He said political discourse in the country left “much to be desired”.

Discuss policies instead of just politicking, opposition told