TERENGGANU voters must abandon their tradition of choosing between Barisan Nasional or PAS if they want more and better for the state and country, said Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders.

The coalition made up of Amanah, Bersatu, PKR, and DAP is in town in an attempt to expand its influence to the oil-rich east coast state that has long been dominated by Umno and PAS.

The Kuala Terengganu ceramah featuring top opposition leaders such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Lim Kit Siang, and Husam Musa, capped the PH campaign in Terengganu.

Terengganu PAS leader Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi agreed that the only contenders of substance in the next election were PH and Barisan Nasional.

A vote for PAS was essentially a vote for BN, Syed Azman told The Malaysian Insight.

Husam Musa said PAS was on same side as Umno as the Islamist party had condoned the alleged crimes of the former in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal.

PAS leaders, for instance, have not condemned the lavish parties allegedly thrown by financier Low Teck Jho with money allegedly stolen from 1MDB, said Husam, who is also Amanah vice-president.

Nor have Terengganu PAS leaders such as party president Abdul Hadi Awang admitted that 1MDB originated from the state as the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

“What have the PAS uztaz (religious teachers) said about all the alcohol bought with 1MDB money?,” Husam told the audience at the ceramah called “Love Malaysia, End Kleptocracy”.

Husam was referring to the United States prosecutors’ allegations that authorities that some of the estimated US$4.5 billion allegedly siphoned from 1MDB had been used to throw lavish parties with champagne, and to buy jewellery for models.

“What have they said about all the booze parties they threw? All the naked models they hired to party on those boats? I don’t understand how these uztaz could be satisfied with 1MDB’s explanations.”

PAS leaders have said they were satisfied with 1MDB’s rationalisation plan after meeting with the state investor’s president Arul Kanda Kandasamy, and they have also called for a royal commission of inquiry into the scandal.

Husam also ridiculed Hadi’s assertion that there had to be four witnesses to back the allegations against 1MDB.

“It’s like Hadi wants to protect Najib. So, in the election, the choice is between Umno, which is being helped by PAS, versus Pakatan Harapan.”

The people of Terengganu must abandon the idea that they had to choose between BN and PAS, he said.

“Today the ‘dacing’ (scales) have become unbalanced and the moon has turned into an eclipse,” he said, referring to BN and PAS’ party symbols of a weighing scale and the moon, respectively.

“So, please think about it.”

In a tirade against PAS, Dr Mahathir, who is PH and Bersatu chairman, said the party was using religion to gain political support and this has led them to contradict themselves and confuse the Muslims.

“In the 1980s, PAS labeled Umno members as infidels and that to die fighting Umno was to be martyred,” said Dr Mahathir, the former prime minister who reigned from 1981 to 2003.

PAS then decided that it was okay to work with the largely non-Muslim DAP before breaking off ties in 2003 and 2015, Dr Mahathir said.

“So now, it is no longer forbidden for them to work with Umno. In reality PAS only used Islam to distinguished themselves from Umno in order to gain votes”. – August 27, 2017.