As Malaysia's Negeri Sembilan state geared up for a snap election on August 1, posts shared two fabricated news graphics: one claiming a competing coalition was splitting apart and the other purporting to show early vote counts. The first graphic features a supposed quote from Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, which his office told AFP was "fake". Malaysia's Election Commission said the second graphic is similarly false, pointing out that early ballots are not counted until voting has finished on election day.
"This is what a true Malay Muslim president looks like," says the Malay-language caption of a purported news graphic shared on Facebook on July 28, 2026.
The graphic, which bears the logo of the Utusan Malaysia newspaper, features a photo of Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi that is superimposed with Malay-language text reading: "(In response to) Sanusi's statement: UMNO ready to end cooperation, urges members to 'not vote for Perikatan Nasional'."
Zahid is the president of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which is a principal member of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition competing in the Negeri Sembilan state polls. BN -- which Zahid also chairs -- has an electoral agreement with Perikatan Nasional (PN), another political alliance, in which they will not directly compete for seats in the election ( archived link).
The statement that Zahid was supposedly responding to is a remark by PN's election director Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, who described Malaysia as the sole Malay homeland and suggested that other ethnic communities had ancestral roots outside the country ( archived link).
Another infographic about the Negeri Sembilan polls was also posted on Facebook on July 29.
It appears to show the PN coalition leading in early vote counts, and its Malay-language caption reads: "Praise be to God, the early voting results of the military and police in the Negeri Sembilan state election are very encouraging."
The graphics circulated days before the snap polls in Negeri Sembilan.
The state election was triggered by a leadership crisis in April, when all 14 UMNO assembly members withdrew their support for Chief Minister Aminuddin Harun ( archived link). They cited dissatisfaction with his handling of a dispute involving the state monarchy.
The graphics were also shared in similar Facebook, Instagram and TikTok posts.
"Do you see their game? They deliberately want to pit Malays against each other," reads a comment on one of the posts. Another says: "Zahid prioritises his position, not Malay unity."
But both circulating graphics are fabrications.
A spokesperson for Zahid told AFP on July 29 the circulating claim was "fake" and the deputy prime minister had never issued such a statement.
Zahid also told local media that BN did not need to end its election arrangement with PN over the remarks ( archived link).
Moreover, Utusan Malaysia denied publishing the report in a post on July 28 ( archived link).
"The irresponsible misuse of the Utusan Malaysia logo, which has caused confusion among readers, is deeply regretted," it said.
A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found the photo of Zahid has circulated since November 20, 2022 ( archived link).
The photo was used in an article by Utusan Malaysia with the headline, "BN has never negotiated to form a PN government". The article is about Zahid denying BN had negotiated with opposition parties to form a government at the time.
Malaysia's election body similarly rejected the notion that early vote counts had been published, describing the circulating infographic as "fake news" in a statement posted on its official Facebook page on July 29 ( archived link).
"The Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) wishes to inform that the counting process for early voting in the 16th Negeri Sembilan State Election will only begin at 5 pm on August 1, 2026 (after the completion of the voting process)," it said.
AFP has previously debunked other false claims that made use of fabricated news reports.