Ismail Sabri sparked another controversy on April 2018, ahead of the 2018 Malaysian general election, when he stated that every vote for the DAP is a vote for the Pakatan Harapan to eliminate the purported Malay "special rights" and "uniqueness" of Islam.[64] Lim Kit Siang responded that Ismail Sabri appeared to be attempting to frame the upcoming general election as a battle between Malays and Chinese, as well as between Islam and its enemies.[65] Lim also explained that Pakatan Harapan's basic documents, including its election manifesto, had been clear and specific in giving unconditional support to Article 153 on Malay special rights and Article 3 on Islam as the official religion of the Federation.[65] He also stated that although the DAP or other races party managed to form a new government in the country if winning the election, the Malays will never perish since the overwhelming majority of Malaysian voters are still Malays and the overwhelming majority of parliamentary and state assembly constituencies in the country are Malay voter-majority constituencies.[5]