The president of PAS, Hadi Awang, has announced that he wants the constitution changed so that only a Muslim can be the prime minister of Malaysia.

This is pure political gimmickry as there is no possibility of a non-Muslim being a prime minister in the foreseeable future given the demographics and political reality in this country. It is my contention that this is racism and religious bigotry aimed at the Malay vote. So much for the religious principles of PAS.

The statement also betrays PAS' lack of sensitivity or concern regarding the feelings of non-Muslims. This statement effectively relegates non-Muslims to second-class citizens.

The 'spiritual leader' of the party, Nik Aziz now implies that those who vote against PAS will be denied entry to heaven . What amazes me is that such comments are clearly anti-Islamic as only Allah determines who enters heaven and not PAS. Equally confounding is the muted response by other Muslim leaders in the BA coalition.

PAS' arrogance knows no bounds as it now has the audacity to question the religious credentials of Syed Husin, president of PRM, claiming that his socialist values are not consonant with Islam. It is clear that the PRM with its socialist principles is not acceptable to PAS.

We have now witnessed the mass defections of senior Keadilan members back to Umno, the barring of other Keadilan 'heavyweights' from participating in the elections, together with PAS' outrageous comments about Syed Husin, who is a fellow Muslim. One wonders whether the BA is serving the interest of PAS only in this coming election.