KANGAR - The Perlis state government has no issues using the official theme of this year's Merdeka Day celebration, 'Malaysia Madani: Tekad Perpaduan Penuhi Harapan', (Determination in Unity, Fulfilling Hope), launched by the Unity government last May 27.
State Menteri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli said, however, that the state-level celebration under Perikatan Nasional (PN) would not use the official logo containing the word 'Malaysia Madani'.
"I have yet to receive anything from the (PN) top leadership, so we must wait and see first, and this matter will be discussed with the PN leadership first.
"However, I see that we can follow them (the central government); there are no issues; we simply did not want to use the Malaysia Madani logo, and we will use the motto (theme) only," he said after officiating the Perlis State Cultural Arts Awards organised by the Perlis State Cultural and Arts Department at a hotel here on Saturday.
Shukri explained that the usage of the logo and slogan being different between the central and state governments for the Merdeka celebration was not new.
He said the same thing was done in 2012 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was in the Opposition bloc, Pakatan Rakyat (PR), and stated the usage of alternative logos and themes for Merdeka celebrations was not wrong.
PR used the alternative "Sebangsa, Senegara, Sejiwa" (One nationality, one country, one soul) for the 2012 Merdeka celebration, while the official theme used by the federal government was 55 Years of Independence: Promises Fulfilled.
Anwar at the time said the use of different themes or slogans for Independence Day celebrations in PR states would not divide the public as the theme set by the BN government had created a fractional situation.
Ahmad Fadhli Shaari, who was the Pasir Mas MP on Saturday, said the states under the PN administration would adopt a different logo and theme for the state celebration.
He said Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu governed by the party would possibly use an alternative logo and theme launched by the PN Youth, themed 'Teguh Muafakat Malaysia Sejahtera' (Strong Consensus for a Prosperous Malaysia).