As the campaign for the Pendang parliamentary and Anak Bukit state assembly seats pick up heat in the run-in to the polls on Thursday, more mud-slinging is expected on both sides of the political divide.

Yesterday, flyers with pictures of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the caption Mahathir paderi besar gereja Rahsia besar di sebalik mengadap Pope di Rom dan cuti di Italy were being circulated in both constituencies.

Another flyer depicting Puteri Umno head with four others wearing the crucifix with the caption Puteri Umno Agen Yahudi was also being distributed.

PAS leaders are peeved about the flyers, claiming that they were not responsible for either of these.

"The campaign has become more aggressive and has gone against the principles of democracy," said PAS central committee member Dr Hatta Ramli.

"We, in PAS, are not going to stoop that low," he added, urging Barisan Nasional leaders and campaigners to be fair and decent in their campaign strategies.

Allegations about Fadzil denied

Another unsigned one-page flyer claimed that the late PAS president Fadzil Noor had felt "pressured in PAS" before his sudden death and that he had been aware that "PAS has deviated from the teachings of Islam".

The flyer, the contents of which have been condemned by PAS leaders, says Fadzil had indicated that he wanted to be with Umno by agreeing to speak on the same platform with Mahathir in May over the Palestinian issue.

Fadzil was alleged to have sought the help of a Tok Guru (spiritual leader) to cure his insomnia and was apparently told to leave PAS as the party's struggles were "not right".

"Another fact that proves PAS' struggles are useless is his son's rejection of the party's request to be a candidate in Pendang," the flyer says. "As a doctor, Fadzil's son knows that PAS' struggles are twisted.".

"But this was not understood by PAS members who continued to harass him (Fadzil) until he fainted in the Subang airport before leaving for Terengganu.

"In his heart, Fadzil had wanted to leave PAS but what could he do? The aggressive and fanatic nature of his supporters made his life difficult, until he was admitted in hospital, became unconscious and finally returned to Allah with many questions left unanswered."

Electorate predominantly Malay

The Pendang parliamentary and Anak Bukit state assembly seats had been held by Umno/BN until PAS wrested these in the 1999 general election.

PAS president and Opposition Leader Fadzil, who died on June 23, had defeated BN candidate and incumbent Othman Abdul by a majority of 2,939 votes.

The combined electorate in Pendang and Anak Bukit comprises 77,427 Malay Malaysians, 7,266 Chinese Malaysians, 6,189 Thai Malaysians and 1,012 Indian Malaysians.