Malay rights pressure group Perkasa is upset with Kelantan Umno chief Mustapa Mohamed for suggesting the party sit out the Chempaka by-election, triggered by the death of veteran PAS leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat last Thursday.

Mustapa’s rationale of focusing on post-flood aid instead of contesting the polls is “hypocritical” since the PAS-led government's poor management of post-flood recovery should be a reason for contesting, Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali said.

"Why don’t Tok Pa and Kelantan Umno dissolve and join PAS or become an NGO to focus on flood aid because Kelantan floods every year?" he snidely suggested in a statement today.

Mustapa (left) – popularly known as Tok Pa – yesterday said he personally feels there is not need for BN to contest the Chempaka polls and should focus on flood recovery efforts.

Mustapa is also head of the Kelantan State Flood Disaster Committee, a joint committee between the state and federal government.

His view is echoed by Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin who reportedly said BN should opt out of the Chempaka polls as a sign of respect for the deceased PAS spiritual leader.

Give reward PAS for incompetence?

But Ibrahim, who was Pasir Mas MP and long-serving Kelantan politician, said that this is giving too much leeway to PAS which he said has failed the state.

Nik Aziz (below) may have been Kelantan Menteri Besar for more than two decades but his victory in Chempaka was due to his personal influence and had nothing to do with PAS, he said.

"PAS is unable to deal with the flood issue so they leave it to the Umno-led federal government.

"But when it comes to working with Umno for Malay or Muslim unity, PAS reject this. They don’t even want to iscuss it and will spit at Umno face.

"And yet, Umno steps in to help with the floods and now even wants to give PAS a free seat in the state legislative assembly. Tok Pa is too nice,” he said.

The Chempaka polls should be used to prove that Umno is able to serve better, he said, and the high possibility of losing should not be a deterrent.

Contesting the by-election will not detrimentally effect post-flood recovery efforts, he said.

A great party of all time

"Even a child understands this…They say Umno is a great party of all time, so winning or losing in a by-election is something normal," he said.

Kelantan was hit with the worst floods in decades in December, leaving up to 200,000 displaced at its height.

Volunteers with aid agencies say victims are still living in tents close two months later with the state and federal governments still in the process of building new homes.

Ibrahim on Friday courted controversy for a Facebook posting saying that Nik Aziz failed to develop Kelantan.

He removed the posting and urged media to ignore it, blaming it on his Facebook page administrator.

The Perkasa chief has nonetheless been consistently critical of the PAS-led Kelantan government, blaming it for the state's underdevelopment.