Kelantan PAS wants to 'localise' its campaign for next month's Manek Urai by-election and therefore will not put up posters of party president Abdul Hadi Awang.

Instead, it will only use posters of Kelantan Menteri Besar and party spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.

nik aziz hadi awang pas Speculation is rife that the move is related to Nik Aziz and Hadi not seeing eye-to-eye over the proposal to hold unity talks between PAS and its arch rival Umno.

The proposal was mooted by Hadi and backed by his deputy Nasharuddin Mat Isa.

But the spiritual leader has called all those who support such talks as 'Umno puppets'.

However, Kelantan PAS denied that its decision not to put up Hadi's posters was related to the growing rift between the two heavyweights.

The party's state deputy election director Nasir Daud insisted that it was nothing more than an election strategy to counter Umno's 'nationalised' approach.

Furthermore, the posters have not even been printed, he added.

List of 'unwelcome' leaders

manek urai state seat 220509 Asked if not printing Hadi's posters will irk the president, Nasir merely replied: " Tidak apa (never mind)."

Meanwhile, the local PAS leader also denied that there were efforts by members from other states to boycott the by-election.

"On June 13, they visited the area and met with the locals. Last night, (PAS central committee member) Abu Bakar Chik came," he said.

Malaysiakini learnt that Abu Bakar - who is aligned to Hadi - is on the list of 'unwelcomed' leaders in Manek Urai.

Apart from Hadi, Nasharuddin and Abu Bakar, party secretary-general Mustafa Ali is also on the list.

The Manek Urai by-election will be held on July 14 while nomination has been fixed for July 6.

Meanwhile, as the rift between PAS leaders over the unity talks with Umno deepens, another development has surfaced which could potentially affect the by-elections.

PAS Youth in several states are threatening to boycott the campaign as a sign of protest against Kelantan PAS for blowing up the unity government issue.

Sources told Malaysiakini that PAS Youth in six states including Terengganu - of which Abdul Hadi Awang is president - plan on boycotting the campaign in Manek Urai.

However, Nik Aziz and former vice president Husam Musa, a senior exco member of the state - two vocal critics of the unity government - dismiss the threat.

Conservative PAS members in Kelantan are against the unity government talks and are still smarting from Husam's defeat. They strongly back Nik Aziz on the issue.

‘A waste of time'

Last Sunday, Kelantan PAS Supporters Club (KPP) asked PAS leaders in favour of a unity government to stay away from elections campaign.

Yap Kok Seng, a KPP leader, was reported to have said that the presence of these unity government supporters would only confuse voters and PAS supporters in the area.

PAS Youth as such, felt it would be a waste of time to go to Manek Urai. "If we cannot go on stage to make a speech, why should we come?" asked a source.

They said Kelantan PAS has yet to contact other states in regards to preparations for the Manek Urai by-elections. "Usually, we would be informed a month in advance (of the election date)," said sources.

Conservative PAS members in Kelantan are furious with Nasharuddin for blatantly disagreeing with Nik Aziz on the unity talks with Umno.

"Even if he doesn't boycott us, we will boycott him here. He is free to come, but I think he cannot attend a function with Tok Guru," added the source.

Campaign boycott

Yesterday, Nik Aziz told Nasharudin to leave the party and resign as MP for Bachok if he still wanted a unity government with Umno.

Meanwhile, sources said that Kelantan's election machinery plan to ban certain PAS leaders from campaigning in Manek Urai.

However, Firdaus Jaafar, director of PAS Youth Central dismissed the rumours. He said that PAS Youth in all states have been assigned to help out in the by-elections in nine voting districts.

"There's no boycott... If there was, why did Kelantan release the list (of divided campaigning areas)?" he asked.

In a related development, Terengganu PAS Youth denied boycotting the by-elections.

Youth chief Mohd Nor Hamzah, who contacted Malaysiakini today, said that PAS will assign between 100 to 200 staff to one of the nine voting districts.