MELAKA, Nov 13 — With Melaka voters heading to the polls tomorrow, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has urged Muslims to turn out and vote, warning that staying away could allow non-Muslims to take power.

According to Malaysiakini, Hadi said Muslims who failed to vote could allow others to govern according to their own interests, potentially neglecting responsibilities prescribed by Allah.

“That is why Muslims must fulfil this obligation (to vote) so that they can lead all of humanity.

“However bad or corrupt a Muslim government may be, it is not as unjust as a non-Muslim government,” he told more than 1,000 supporters at the Barisan Nasional (BN)-Perikatan Nasional (PN) grand finale rally in Bukit Katil yesterday.

Hadi’s political secretary Syahir Sulaiman told Malaysiakini that the PAS president’s remarks referred to historical accounts of Islamic governance.

The Marang MP highlighted Islam’s arrival in Melaka before the state fell to colonial rule in 1511, noting that the religion had endured in the country despite centuries of foreign rule.

The rally, organised by PN to mark the climax of the Melaka state election campaign, also featured an apparent show of unity between the two coalitions.

Among those who addressed the crowd were Pejuang president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, Wawasan president Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin and Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau.

Also present were Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, PAS deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and Umno secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.