In his post, Zaharudin Muhammad wrote about a hypothetical scenario of Malaysia having its first Chinese prime minister in due course

Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) grass roots leader Zaharudin Muhammad sparked outrage over a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday, in which he wrote a hypothetical news story of Malaysia welcoming its first ethnic Chinese prime minister, an incendiary idea to many in the Malay Muslim majority nation.

In his post, which included a picture of Johnny Lim Eng Seng, the commandant of the Malaysian Armed Forces Defence College, receiving his third star, Zaharudin said it was “not impossible” that a Chinese Malaysian becoming the country’s leader could be a reality in the coming decades.

PAS said it had nothing to do with Zaharudin’s post, stressing that it went against the party’s principle of upholding racial and religious diversity.

“Racism in any form or colour has no place in PAS, and is incompatible with the grand culture and aspirations of this country,” PAS Secretary General Takiyuddin Hassan said in a statement on Thursday.