PAS Youth today took Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to task for daring to say that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a blessing to the rakyat.

"The prime minister can't use the excuse that it was fortunate that he instituted the GST. How can he say that this thing (GST) is a blessing when from the viewpoint of the religion (Islam), it is clear that taxing the poor is wrong," PAS Youth chief Nik Abduh Nik Aziz told reporters today.

He said his party rejects the prime minister's argument as it has no grounding, adding that it is “just an attempt to assuage the rakyat”.

"The prime minister has no other answers. If he said that GST is a blessing, it means that falling oil prices is also a blessing," he added, referring to the recent economic downturn.

Nik Abduh said this at a hi-tea session for the press in Kuala Lumpur today.

Najib has said today that the implementation of the GST is a blessing because with it, the government can still afford to provide for scholarships despite the dire economic situation.

He also said that it is because of the gains from the new tax that government servants still get to keep their jobs.

Nik Abduh, who is Pasir Mas MP, said that PAS will make the BN pay for implementing the GST in the next general election by making sure that the ruling coalition is voted out of power.

"We (PAS) still reject GST. We will make sure that the rakyat will reject BN, too,” he said.