BN will have to say " sayonara " to Putrajaya if PAS can keep and nurture the people's confidence including non-Muslims, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said today.

As such, he said, the Islamist party should not do anything to turn the people away from them, especially non-Muslims.

"If the people continue to support PAS until the next election, then BN will have to say sayonara to Putrajaya.

"But don't let our actions (be seen) as chasing away the non-Muslims from voting for us," he said in his speech at the PAS Youth muktamar in Shah Alam today.

However he did not elaborate on what actions would erode non-Muslim support.

Mohamad's appeal comes amid a clash between those who want to keep PAS in Pakatan Rakyat and those who feel the party had given too much face to the opposition coalition.

Pakatan, advocated by progressives such as Mohamad, has helped expand PAS' support beyond its traditional east coast Malay heartland but conservatives in the party are upset over what they see as a deviation from its purist Islamist mission.

Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu ( photo ), also appealed to PAS members to emulate the Prophet Muhammad who dealt with non-Muslims daily.

Quaking in its boots

"The Prophet met and discussed with non-Muslims everyday. He goes out and he meets non-Muslims, he shops with non-Muslims and he discusses with non-Muslims.

"We should ask ourselves, did we meet a non-Muslim this week to talk about the beauty of Islam?" he asked the delegates.

Mohamad added that BN ( photo ) was quaking in its boots because of PAS' performance in the last two general elections.

"Our enemy BN has been biting its nails after seeing that in 2008, the urban and rural Muslims [...] are now with us with added support from the non-Muslims," he said.

He then reminded the delegates that Pakatan Rakyat had been able to take over five states in 2008.

However, he also pointed out that PAS on its own hadn't been able to recapture Terengganu since after the Barisan Alternatif days in 1999.

"That is the power of PAS with tahaluf siyasi (political cooperation). From this coalition, we will continue to strive to be more acceptable to the people and be a real alternative to BN," he added.