Hadi: Muslims went to Mecca while non-Muslims returned to 'vote DAP'

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang today lamented the alleged poor turnout by Muslim voters and said not voting may be a huge sin.

He said, in comparison, non-Muslims turned out in droves from near and far to “support DAP”.

Hadi claimed turnout by non-Muslims was at 98 percent, while only about 60 percent of Muslims voted.

“This shows Muslims did not carry out their kewajipan (responsibility) to vote, even though some gave an excuse they were performing the haj or umrah (major and minor pilgrimages to Mecca), while some waited for payment (to vote) and so on.

“In this situation, it is feared that they have committed a major sin as they had disobeyed God’s command as stated by the Prophet Muhammad,” he said.

The command in question was to not retreat when the “enemies of Islam” were on the attack.

Hadi argued that it was obligatory for Muslims to vote in order to put Muslims in power.

The PAS president has been trying to paint the government as lacking in Muslim authority after his Perikatan Nasional coalition failed to take Putrajaya in the aftermath of the 15th general election.

No such data

The turnout figures according to religion cited by Hadi have been disputed by data scientist Thevesh Theva, who pointed out that the Election Commission does not release turnout data by race.

“Voter turnout by race is not available, so the only way you can ‘guesstimate’ the number (of voters by race) is by looking at seats,” he tweeted.

He also disputed that more non-Muslims voted than Muslims, pointing out that Hadi’s home state Terengganu - a Malay/Muslim-majority state - had a turnout of 80.2 percent - the highest for a state in the country.

Turnout in Hadi’s seat Marang was also at 82.8 percent, which Thevesh said was the seventh-highest in the country.

He further disputed that turnout among Muslims could be below 60 percent, as with the exception of Sabah and Sarawak - no state had a turnout below 70 percent.

Meanwhile, Hadi’s citing of the haj as one excuse used by Muslims to not vote also raises questions.

This is as the haj season this year was in July, four months before the election.

However, the haj season for 2023 starts in late June - which could coincide with impending state elections in Kedah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Penang, whose legislative terms expire in the middle of next year.

Separately, in his statement today, Hadi also thanked young voters for their support.

“Congratulations to youths who stepped forth even though some are religiously ignorant, still immature of age, but they received God’s guidance, were mature of mind, and loved their race and religion,” he said.

Prior to Undi18 being implemented, Hadi had supported efforts to delay the law coming into effect, saying lowering the voting age was Western-influenced. - Mkini