Ousted Perak Menteri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin became an instant hit in the Manek Urai by-election as he took potshots at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's role in the downfall of the Pakatan Rakyat government last February.

Nizar, who is PAS central committee member, was in Manek Urai Lama last night where he initially gave a religious sermon at the Manek Urai mosque, and later attended a ceramah in front of a house belonging to a party supporter.

nizar manek urai house Although hailing from Kampar, the 52-year-old engineer displayed impeccable command of the Kelantanese dialect as he talked to Manek Urai Lama folks as well as those from nearby villages.

In one of his ceramah, Nizar revealed how two Barisan Nasional deputy ministers had come up to him and expressed their support for the dissolution of the Perak state assembly.

“They came to me two weeks ago - several days after taking my oath of office as Bukit Gantang MP. They told me they supported the call for the dissolution of the Perak assembly to resolve the present political impasse.

“However, they said it was Najib who opposed it, and they being deputy ministers had to support his decision out of respect of party discipline,” Nizar said.

nizar manek urai house crowd Nizar, however, did not reveal the names of the two deputy ministers but said their silent support on the matter showed that Najib was wrong and that his action was against parliamentary convention.

Unlike Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's Tuesday night ceramah, Nizar's talk last night attracted 300 people despite it not having a police permit.

Party insiders said they did try to apply for a permit yesterday but the police were unable to process it given that Friday was a public holiday in Kelantan.

Hadi delivers speech from balcony

The former Perak menteri besar told the crowd that the High Court had declared him the rightful menteri besar, but this was overturned by the appellate court.

nizar manek urai crowd listening He said the Federal Court had since agreed to listen to his application to challenge the Court of Appeal decision, and this showed that he had a strong case.

According to Nizar, he was relating the Perak imbroglio to Manek Urai voters to show how low Umno was willing to stoop in order to wrest power from Pakatan.

"Hence, all of you have to make sure that that you vote for PAS candidate Mohd Fauzi Abdullah. Call your friends and ask those outstation to come back and vote to ensure victory".

While Nizar addressed the crowd from the house of a party supporter, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, in his ceramah in nearby Kampung Chuchuh Puteri yesterday, delivered his speech from the balcony of a house.