Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today asked the people of Kelantan how long more they wanted to suffer under a PAS-led government which he said had brought little development to the state.

“Is 22 years not enough? Do you want to suffer further?” he asked, and advised the people to give the Barisan Nasional (BN) the mandate in the next general election.

Kelantan would have become a developed state if it had been under the BN over the last 22 years, he said at the opening of the Kota Baru Umno Division delegates meeting, a meet-the-people event and an Aidilfitri reception in Kota Baru.

Also present were Muhyiddin’s wife, Norainee Abdul Rahman, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed, Deputy Finance Minister Dr Awang Adek Hussin and political secretary to the prime minister, Mohd Fatmi Che Salleh.

Kelantan reverted to PAS rule in the 1990 general election and has remained under the opposition since.

Muhyiddin said the fact that Kelantan had yet to become a developed state was not something created out of thin air but had been vouched for by experts in their respective fields.  

“Twenty-two years have passed but there has been little development. This is the reality although the country has become developed and serves as a model for the world out there,” he said.  

About 20,000 people attended the meet-the-people session and Aidilfitri reception.

Muhyiddin said he was convinced that the people of Kelantan realised their mistake of having voted for PAS since 1990.

“Some of the people I met asked me when the general election would be held. They said they could not bear to be under PAS rule any longer and wanted to vote for the BN,” he said.

“You have found out for yourselves. You have suffered (under PAS rule),” he said.  

Muhyiddin said the BN realised that it was not an easy task to recapture Kelantan, but was convinced that it was not an impossible one.

He also said that all the BN’s pledges for a renewal in Kelantan would be included in the special manifesto for the state in the next general election.

One of the issues which the BN had to take up was the provision of clean water, he said, adding that he did not want the people, particularly school children, to be consuming unclean water.

“This problem has to be overcome,” he said.

- Bernama