In Kampung Seribung, near Kota Baru, an Umno ceramah (political talk) last Friday night attracted some 1,000 people to listen to former PAS local leaders like Noraini Yaakob and Abdul Latiff Mohamad.

Noraini, the ex-Peringat PAS division treasurer joined Umno last year and is now an information officer in the Special Affairs Department set up by the Information Ministry. Abdul Latiff was the PAS Besut division head until he left the party

Without mincing words, Noraini squarely put the blame on the PAS leadership for making use of religion to "fish for votes". This was in relation to recent comments that those who vote for PAS will go to heaven and those who do not, to hell.

"I'm surprised that (PAS spiritual leader) Nik Abdul Aziz (Nik Mat) can make an offer like this, as if heaven belongs to him and other PAS leaders ... and that he can give heaven to anyone he likes and send anyone he dislikes to hell," she said.

"I didn't know that Nik Aziz was working in co-operation with God and that (he) has been given the power to deliver heaven to those who vote for PAS and hell to those who don't."

Noraini said she had once believed in such words because these "came out of the mouth of an ulama like Nik Aziz", but that she has since changed her mind.

"At every general election, PAS leaders have repeated such words to attract voters. But even after they have been in power for one or two terms, nothing has changed the poor are still poor, the uneducated remain uneducated. I left (the party) after realising that I had been cheated."

Noraini said a real Islamic government is one which provides opportunities for citizens to improve the quality of their lives.

Ending on what was meant to be a high note, she asked the crowd: "Can all of you vote Umno in this election?" but the reaction was mixed.

Some in the crowd yelled out "Yes, can can!", but others remained silent.

Hadi under attack

Abdul Latiff, meanwhile, condemned PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for labeling Umno members as kafir (infidels), but said he was confident that voters in Terengganu would not be fooled into returning PAS to power.

He reminded the crowd that Terengganu had been in PAS hands in 1960 and that the state legislative assembly had passed a vote of no confidence after eight months against the administration headed by Daud Abdul Samad.

Abdul Latiff alleged that the Terengganu government, again under PAS since the 1999 general election, has not implemented development projects for the benefit of the people.

"Abdul Hadi and his ulama colleagues are always busy talking about Islamic laws and their proposed Islamic state," he said.

"Yet the laws, including hudud , have yet to be enforced. People in Terengganu do not believe PAS any longer."

Contacted for comments, Hadi's press secretary Suhaimi Mokhtar claimed that Abdul Latiff had crossed over to Umno because there was "loss of confidence in his leadership in Besut".

Suhaimi said voters should be wary of "Umno propaganda" and that he was certain PAS would form the next Terengganu government.

Yaakub Dasan is a malaysiakini stringer based in Kelantan