The Umno way: all mortar but no heart

PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat last night tore into Umno, saying that the ruling party was all about form and not substance.

"They build lots of mosques but they don't pray, " he said, adding that the Umno "Islamic way" was only about structures but little to do with what was in their heart.

Speaking before about 1,000 supporters at Kampung Pak Beris in Kuala Besut, the charismatic former Kelantan menteri besar also slammed Umno for focusing too much on race.

He pointed out that Umno always says that they are championing Malay rights but the reality was that a person's place in heaven is decided by their deeds and not race.

Pakatan Rakyat hopes that Nik Aziz's presence in Kuala Besut will help the opposition shorten the odds of victory at the by-election on July 24.

Pas candidate Azlan Yusof is facing Barisan Nasional's Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abd Rahman in the contest.

A Pas victory will give the opposition and BN 16 seats each in the state assembly and could increase the pressure on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's position within Umno. But BN remains confident that it will retain the seat it won on May 5.

Earlier at the ceramah, PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man spoke about the BN abuses at federal and state level.

"Look at the ink fiasco, the indelible ink turned out to be food colouring. Then we asked them to reveal the supplier and they refused. But our brother Rafizi exposed it. Look at how much they spent on it, millions of ringgit but the cost is only about RM185,000, " he told a cheering crowd.

In Parliament this week, PKR's Rafizi Ramli disclosed that a company with links to EC officials was given the contract to supply the indelible ink.

Closer to home, Tuan Ibrahim pointed out that the government spent RM33 million to build 200 flats. But with the state assembly tied at 16-16, it would not be easy to push through any such projects.

"Any budget or project will be endorsed if we find that it was made in the right way, " he said.