Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak has defended the PAS rule in Kedah over the last three years and described the BN's intense criticism of Pakatan Rakyat's term since the March 2008 general election as gila talak .

Gila talak is a Malay term used with sarcasm to describe a man who desires to reunite with his ex-wife after divorcing her.

Azizan said the BN was merely "harping on old issues" in questioning development and warning the Chinese community about the purported implementation of hudud law in Kedah.

"The opposition harps on meaningless issues. It predicted that we would only achieve about 2.5 percent growth during our rule," he told reporters last night after launching Pakatan's development manifesto , the Buku Jingga (Orange Book) to mark the coalition's threes years of rule in Kedah, and to prepare members for the coming general election.

penang kedah timber logging azizan abdul razak 310708 01 "But throughout the 53 years of its rule in Kedah, the BN had only achieved about 1.5 percent growth. So, what has it really done for the people?" Azizan ( left ) said when asked to comment on the BN's recent criticisms of his administration.

Yesterday, BN component parties in Kedah condemned the PAS-led administration and accused it of failing to keep its election promises and develop the state despite three years in power.

Azizan, who was accompanied by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and DAP vice-chief Tan Seng Giaw, said it would take time for the people to notice any obvious development within the state.

However, he said, Pakatan had done in Kedah what BN had failed to do all these years - fight corruption and reduce land tax by about 30 percent.

"We also provide educational aid of RM1.5 million for non-Muslim students," he said.

"Recently, we received RM53 million from logging premiums. During the BN's time, it was only a miserable RM8 million. What happened to all the money?" he asked.

"This is what we call gila talak, " exclaimed the Sungai Limau assemblyperson.

On fears of the Chinese community towards PAS' purported Islamisation plan in Kedah, Azizan poked fun at the love-hate relationship between Umno and its ally, MCA.

He said BN's warnings to the Chinese community were all based on the opposition's desire not to see a good working relationship between PAS and its partner DAP.

"However, it is okay for Umno to be friends with MCA. This is because one of them is a robber and the other is a rogue," he charged.

Protecting Kedah's rice fields

He was responding to remarks by state Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang and MCA chief Chong Itt Chew, who noted that the Chinese community was beginning to be worried about PAS' rule after the state implemented separate seating areas for men and women at a New Year's event in Sungai Petani.

padi fields 230508 01 Tan also criticised PAS for allegedly increasing the bumiputra housing quota in the state from 50 percent to 70 percent, which Azizan has squarely denied.

In his speech earlier, Azizan said one of Pakatan's first tasks, after coming into power in 2008, was to protect Kedah's rice fields.

There were 3,000 hectares of land earmarked for development but the projects have been halted to ensure Kedah continued to flourish as the nation's rice bowl, he said.

"We stopped all the projects in the Kerian district where the rice fields are. During Umno's time, they didn't care about such issues, about the rice fields or that people would have to leave their homes when development takes place," he said.

"Projects like oil refineries are now allowed on reclaimed areas, not on padi fields. It is not that we oppose development, but Kedah must remain the rice bowl of the nation... we are saving the land and money of the people," Azizan stressed.