PAS practises Islam, does not exploit it for politics, Nur Jazlan told

 

Ahmad Nawfal Mahfodz (left) has refuted the claim by Nur Jazlan Mohamed that PAS relies on religious rhetoric to win over voters.

SRI GADING: A PAS leader has hit back at Umno’s Nur Jazlan Mohamed for saying the party’s religious rhetoric will not work in Johor, telling him that Islam was meant to be practised, and not exploited for politics.

Johor PAS Youth chief Ahmad Nawfal Mahfodz denied that his party relied on religious rhetoric to win over voters, citing how no one from PAS had talked about hudud law throughout the campaign for the state elections.

“It’s still something we fight for, but it’s not something we use to win votes,” he told FMT. “My concern is that some might create that perception. But we’re not riding on (Islam), instead we practise it.”

Nawfal also dismissed Nur Jazlan’s claim that PAS was not capable of talking about economics and education, saying the party comprised many professionals in various fields.

“PAS has various experts, it’s just that they (opposition parties) don’t know. So it’s not true that PAS doesn’t have any ideas when it comes to education or the economy,” he said.

Previously, Nur Jazlan, the Johor Umno deputy chief, said PAS was bereft of ideas and only talked about polygamy and promoting “ridiculous practices” like saying husbands can beat their wives “lightly”, among others.

He said the more PAS talked about religion, the better it would be for Barisan Nasional in the Johor elections.

Nawfal is in a four-cornered fight for the Parit Yaani seat, which Amanah’s Aminolhuda Hassan had won in 2018 with a majority of 4,834 votes.

With the Chinese community making up 41% of the voters in Parit Yaani in 2018, Aminolhuda will be seeking to defend the seat from Nawfal, BN’s Najib Samuri and Pejuang’s Ridhauddin Mohd Tahir.

Nawfal had also contested for the Pagoh parliamentary seat in 2018 where he lost to Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin.

He claimed that following BN’s defeat in GE14, it was PAS that helped Umno rebuild its “fallen fortress” in Johor through its Muafakat Nasional alliance.

However, he said, PAS now knew where Umno was weak in Johor and where it stood a better chance of snatching seats from the BN lynchpin. - FMT