Kelantan Menteri Besar and PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat ( Above ) is confident that his party will retain the Manek Urai state seat in tomorrow's by-election.

The politician also called on voters not to back Umno as the party 'does not follow Islam or respect the constitution'.

NONE Despite the confidence, he however expressed concern over the existence of 'phantom voters.

"I believe we will retain the seat. I hope the voters would vote for us. In 19 years of PAS rule, we have followed Islam and respected the state constitution," he said last night.

Nik Aziz was speaking to reporters after a Pakatan Rakyat rally held in support of PAS candidate Mohd Fauzi Abdullah.

Citing the political imbroglio in Perak as an example, Nik Aziz recalled how Pakatan speaker V Sivakumar was forcibly evicted from the House.

"They (Umno) had violated the rights of the people and the Perak government. They do not accept Islam and violated the principles of democracy. Then why support them?" he asked.

"This is something the people should understand that PAS would not resort to such low tactics," he added.

No sign of the bridge

NONE Besides Nik Aziz, the others present were Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang. Some 5,000 people attended the ceramah in Kampung Sungai Perial.

Around 3am this morning, PAS also organised a munajat (special prayers session) at the Manek Urai Baru mosque to pray for victory.

NONE Meanwhile, Nik Aziz also lambasted Barisan Nasional and Umno for using a 'bridge' to entice voters.

He said in the past, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had announced the construction of the Sultan Ismail II bridge and appointed a contractor.

"However, until today there is no sign of the bridge. The Kelantan government has also brought a lot of development. It is not only the federal government which has brought development," he added.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had offered to construct a 300 metre long new bridge to replace the single-lane bridge in the area.