In final push, PAS president reminds Pengkalan Kubor voters of Umno’s trickery

TUMPAT, Sept 24 — PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang last night warned Pengkalan Kubor voters not to be swayed by Umno’s campaign pledges, saying the party was known to make empty promises to woo support during elections.

At a grand ceramah that topped off PAS’s last lap of campaign in the state seat by-election here, Hadi said Umno’s betrayal towards PAS in the 70s and the federal government’s purported poor treatment of Kelantan should push them to reject the party’s candidate in Thursday’s polls.

Hadi again told voters here that the federal government led by Umno and BN had systematically kept Kelantan poor by refusing to pay royalty for its oil, noting that it did the same thing to Terengganu when it was under PAS rule from 1998 to 2002.

“They are doing something that is against the law of the country. It contradicts the idea of federalism that they themselves espoused,” he said.

The Kelantan government’s legal tussle with Putrajaya for oil royalty issue has fuelled the party’s campaign in the by-election here in an apparent attempt to blame Umno for the lack of development in the state.

Despite being oil-rich, Kelantan is among the poorest states in Malaysia, with a per capita income that has stayed relatively the same for nearly 20 years, according to official statistics.

Hadi said Putrajaya’s poor treatment of Kelantan or other PAS-ruled state governments in the past were proof that Umno was not Islamic despite being a completely Malay party.

“This is not trust that is required of us Muslims. This is treachery. And those who commits treachery must be taught a lesson,” the PAS president said.

Outside of Kelantan, the Islamist party had run Kedah for one short term after winning the state in the 2008 elections, and neighbouring Terengganu twice: the first time from June 1959 to November 1961, and the second time from December 1999 to March 2004.

Hadi, who was Terengganu mentri besar from 1999 to 2004, also highlighted corruption allegations against Umno as clear evidence that it was a party that is deviating from the teachings of Islam despite claiming to be Muslims.

And he said it was the religious duty of Muslims to reject such leadership.

“Trust (given by Allah) is about electing a credible leader..you have a religious duty to redeem that trust by electing a trusted leader,” the Marang MP said.

PAS’s Islamic credentials would likely resonate well among Pengkalan Kubor’s religiously conservative voters and could help bolster the party’s standing here, observers have noted.

The Pengkalan Kubor by-election is called following the death of Umno incumbent Datuk Noor Zahidi, who was the assemblyman for three terms.

Noor Zahidi had retained the seat in the general election held last year with a majority of 1,736 votes, beating Saharun Ibrahim of PKR and Izat Bukhari.

The by-election is a three-cornered contest with Umno’s Mat Razi Mat Ail, PAS’s Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim and independent Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary having thrown their hats in the ring.

Voting for the Pengkalan Kubor state seat by-election kicks off from 8am tomorrow.

Today marks the final chance for candidates to make their pitch as campaigning must end by midnight, according to election rules.