IPOH, August 28 — Perak Opposition leader Abdul Aziz Bari alleged today a PAS-linked preacher made a political speech inside a mosque as part of the Slim by-election campaign, saying this was in direct defiance of Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah.

The state DAP vice chairman said mosques and other houses of prayer were not the proper venue for politics and pointed out that the Sultan of Perak has said as much.

“Recently, a PAS political preacher publicly admitted that he had campaigned in a mosque despite the Perak Sultan’s previous reminder that the place of worship should not be dragged into politics,” he told a press conference at his house in Tiara Lake here.

“We hope the voters in Slim can do something to stop such a practice so that politics will not divide the people,” he added.

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On Wednesday, preacher Abdullah Khairi was reported as admitting he campaigned in a mosque to help secure Barisan Nasional’s (BN) victory in the by-election. PAS has allied with BN.

The preacher, popular with PAS supporters, was earlier shown in a video clip saying that PAS members have done their jobs in mosques to assist BN candidate Mohd Zaidi Aziz, who was also seen in the clip.

In May last year, the sultan decreed that political programmes and speeches should not be held in the state’s mosques and prayer halls.

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Aside from accusing the preacher, Aziz Bari also alleged that Rural Development, Entrepreneur Development, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Saarani Mohamad directed civil servants to vote for BN in Slim.

“The ruling government should not use the official platform to gain votes,” he said.