PAS has often used divine retribution as a means to coax Muslim voters into supporting the Islamist party, but this constituted an election offence.

Election watchdog Bersih said this was according to Section 9(1) of the Election Offences Act.

Bersih was responding to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang warning voters about the danger of incurring God’s wrath should their ballots be cast for the wrong candidates in the twin by-elections.

"Bersih criticises the speech by Abdul Hadi stating that 'choosing the wrong MP on June 18 will court God's wrath' and that 'if the (elected) MP speaks wrongly then we would have sinned and be damned’,” it said in a media statement.

Section 9(1) of the Election Offences Act concerns undue influence and makes it an offence for any person to make threats including "temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm or loss" to influence voters.

Abdul Hadi had made the warning during a ceramah in Sungai Besar on Sunday night.

PAS has played the religion card going into the by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar, touting its plan to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.

The amendments, if successful, would pave the way for the enforcement of the Syariah Criminal Code (II) Enactment 1993 in Kelantan which sets out punishments according to hudud.

In the past, the late PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat also often resorted to such divine threats, especially when it concerned Umno.

Saturday’s by-elections would see PAS candidates Dr Abdul Rani Osman and Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad vying for the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar parliamentary seats respectively.

The two seats fell vacant when Sungai Besar incumbent Noriah Kasnon and Kuala Kangsar MP Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad were killed together with four others in a helicopter crash in Sarawak.

Sungai Besar would witness a three-cornered fight involving Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) candidate Azhar Abdul Shukor,  PAS' Dr Rani Osman and BN’s Budiman Mohd Zohdi.

Kuala Kangsar would be a four-way tussle involving the late MP’s widow Mastura Mohd Yazid representing BN, PAS' Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad, Ahmad Termizi Ramli from Amanah and Independent candidate Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary.