The former Umno Youth chief said he disagreed with the usage of the term, which carried a negative connotation – namely extremism.

“The green wave is not a description of the colour of PAS’ flag but a term that has been used to instil fear among non-Malays and moderate Malays about the wave of Islamic terrorism.

“In my recent visit to Singapore, the press there asked me about this green wave because they are equating it with Talibanism,” he said in the latest episode of the “Keluar Sekejap” podcast.

Yesterday, Khairy said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s struggle to gain Malay support stems more from the community’s discontent with his administration’s lack of economic direction than the rise of an “extremist green wave”.

Khairy then called out DAP’s stalwart Lim Kit Siang for using the term when commenting on PN.

He said while PN tended to harp on racial, religious and royalty issues, commonly referred to as the 3Rs, using the “green wave” label to counter such narratives was equally harmful.

“PN plays the race card, but DAP resorts to its green wave ‘dog whistle’ to counter PAS. But the effect it has is the same — it is negative.”

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