KULIM, March 11- Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad(Pic) said the biggest achievement by PAS is the approach taken by the party to create public hatred against Umno and declaring those who do not support the party as infidels. The former prime minister said the approach was adopted by PAS leaders to scare the people so that they would not support Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN).
“PAS also taught its supporters to hate those who do not support or vote for PAS as non-Muslims,” he said at the programe ‘Together With Statesman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’, here today.
The programme was organised by the Kulim/Bandar Baharu Umno division with the cooperation of Kedah BN and was also attended by Dr Mahathir’s wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, Kedah Umno Liaison chairman, Datuk Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah and about 5,000 leaders and members of the state BN component parties.
According to Dr Mahathir, many PAS supporters were now leaving the party because they realised that the approach adopted by the party all this while contradicted with the teachings of Islam. He said that PAS was actually a weak party because it needed the support of other parties in the opposition pact to the extent that it was prepared to drop its struggle for an Islamic nation and implement the hudud law when threatened by its own allies.
He said the people should be able to evaluate the achievements of the opposition pact after five years of ruling four states beginning 2008. Dr Mahathir said in jest that he was campaigning now to repay the deeds of the earlier people who had supported him to become prime minister.
“People say I’m too old, and unable to do anything but I have to repay their deeds,” he said to loud applause from the audience. Speaking to reporters later on talks about the tussle for the post of Kedah Menteri Besar if the BN were to win in the 13th general election, the former prime minister said such talks would not affect the BN chances because party
members had been reminded about it.
“There are people asking whether my son (Mukhriz) is a candidate for the MB (Menteri Besar) post. I said let him contest first, DUN (State constituency) or Parliamentary (constituency), it’s alright. What is important is that all members give their assurance that they will support whoever is selected by the prime minister as candidate.
“The people of Kedah have experienced…PAS has not contributed anything to the state, in fact, they did more damage,” he added.
On the call by DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang that the Prime Minister dissolves the Parliament, Dr Mahathir said there must be an interim arrangment first to dissolve Parliament.
BERNAMA
