K KANGSAR POLLS A PAS leader has taken a swipe at Parti Amanah Negara for choosing the colour orange, which he said was similar to the saffron attire of priests.

Furthermore, Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said the PAS splinter party’s logo appeared to be the same as that of a Tamil channel in India, Imayam TV.

He described Amanah as nanar or “mad” and urged voters in Kuala Kangsar to reject the party’s candidate in the June 18 by-election.

“PAS people must continue to vote PAS. Don’t change to orange. To me, this orange party is mad, and its politics is equally maddening.

“Proof of this madness is Amanah’s inability to choose a proper colour. Of all the colours in the world created by God, they choose a colour similar to (the attire) of priests (tok sami).

“The logo is that of Imayam TV. From this, you can see they are not wise in choosing. So how can they be leaders?” he said during a ceramah last night.

On the same note, Mohd Amar, who is a PAS vice-president, also called on voters to be bold and make a change due to Umno’s failure to place Islam at the centre of its struggle.

Acknowledging that Umno has contributed to Islam, the PAS leader, however, said it was insufficient.

“As a Muslim leader, the person is responsible to ensure the supremacy of Islam. But over this long period (under Umno’s rule), our country is still secular,” he added.

Mohd Amar told the audience that the by-election is not aimed at changing the federal government, but the result should serve as a reminder to BN.

“Even if PAS wins, the government would not change. The prime minister would remain.

“But if voters in Kuala Kangsar pick a PAS candidate, it would send a strong signal to Umno regarding its attitude and stand towards Islam and the Malays.

“After being in power for too long, Umno has forgotten (the people).

“They only look for the voters during election periods... They go into the kampung and give cooking stoves (and other items). They would even give monkeys if possible,” he said.

In an immediate response, Amanah secretary-general Annuar Tahir said PAS was playing petty politics by picking on the party’s colour and logo.

"It has become petty. I think the Netherlands football team has yet to complaint to us for wearing orange.

"We did not say anything about their logo. I hope all parties would respect each other's logo," Annuar told a press conference at Sungai Besar Amanah office today.

Annuar also said PAS must walk the talk of having a mature style of politics without resorting to mudslinging and petty remarks.