A PAS member of Parliament today dismissed the prime minister's charge that opposition leaders who were once with the government, had made use of their positions then to gain land and other benefits while hiding where their real sympathies lay.

Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi (PAS - Kuala Terengganu) said it was a "non-issue" as such land was probably allocated and dispensed many years before its recipients joined the opposition.

"In which case, it is not fair to bring up the matter now. Anyway, it is really the government officials in charge who must answer why they offered land to certain people and not others," the PAS central committee member told malaysiakini .

"There are also instances when a citizen is given land for services done for the state," he added.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was quoted by Bernama as saying that opposition leaders who were previously aligned with the government had obtained land and other privileges but hid their intentions of joining opposition parties.

"These people are never thankful. If we help them, they will bite us. This is their habit," said the premier.

However, Syed Azman disagreed, saying it is the legal right of every citizen of this country to apply for land.

"It is then up to the executive council of the state to allocate the necessary land if the citizen fulfills the requirement," he said.

Disclose list

Syed Azman also challenged Mahathir to disclose the list of people who were given land, including those in the opposition now.

Utusan Malaysia today reported former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib as saying he is prepared to disclose the list of people who were given land when he was the state's chief executive.

Last Wednesday, PAS secretary-general Nasharuddin Mat Isa dared Information Ministry parliamentary secretary senator Zainuddin Maidin to name the opposition leaders whom he claimed had obtained 'special treatment' from the Selangor government, including two ulama who are now PAS supporters.

Zainuddin's comment was based on PAS vice-president Hassan Ali's admission that he had received 2.4ha of land in the Sungai Lui forest reserve in Selangor from the state government.

In response, Nasharuddin had said Hassan's case was not related to his position in PAS as it had happened before he was in the party.