Both Umno and its arch-rival PAS are not the best choices for the upcoming Kuala Terengganu by-election, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

mahathir pc 260608 05 Describing the two parties as being 'the same at this point of time', the former Umno president however unleashed a caustic attack on the Islamic PAS, which he accused of 'bending backwards' for political mileage.

Furthermore, he said the Jan 17 by-election is not important because a victory for either Barisan Nasional or PAS will not have a bearing on the status of the state government.

Mahathir, who quit Umno last year over differences with his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, added that as a person without a party, he is not bound to anyone.

'Pigs and land'

"PAS is not the alternative because the party is willing to turn its back on its principles to please the other component parties in Pakatan Rakyat. Those who do not hold on to principles cannot be trusted," the 82-year-old statesman stated in his latest blog posting.

"For example, PAS agreed to pigs being reared at a Malay village because the religion only forbids (Muslims) from eating pork.

"Rearing pigs is okay, touching them is okay and selling is also okay because these are not mentioned in the Al-Quran," he added sarcastically.

kuala terengganu by election nomination pas supporters 060109 02 The question is, he pointed out, is whether the sensitivities of the Malays are taken into account.

Mahathir said PAS has also stopped talking much about the implementation of the Islamic hudud laws, claiming this is a 30-year plan.

"PAS is also willing to give permanent land titles to garner the support of the Chinese. The country's policy is that land titles cannot be given to anyone permanently be it Chinese, Malays or Indians.

"But PAS is willing to turn its back on national policies to get the support of the Chinese. The British never gave the 'new villages' to the squatters in these areas. No grants were issued by the British to 'new village' residents but PAS is willing to lie that the British had given the land permanently to the Chinese squatters.

"All of this show that PAS is an unprincipled party and is not genuine in championing Islam. PAS cannot be trusted by anybody. It is willing to 'bend backwards' for current political interests," he added.

Umno fielding a 'snob'

As for Umno, he said the party which he led for more than two decades does not know how to pick candidates for elections.

"The person chosen (for Kuala Terengganu, Wan Ahmad Farid) is the former political secretary of Abdullah. It is clear that Umno’s choice does not care about the people’s sentiments.

kt by election 070109 wan farid greet voters "The candidate is known to be snobbish, who does not know how to be friendly with people," he added.

According to Mahathir, voters in this by-election are faced with a dilemma as both PAS and Umno are not the best choices.

"Maybe the independent candidate (Azharuddin Mamat) will secure more votes than he should," he said.