Posted on 09/20/2003 5:34:22 PM PDT by Valin
Celebration of Barisan Nasional's 50th anniversary is used to deliver a broadside in time for elections
MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad once again trained his guns on the country's Islamic fundamentalist opposition party as he addressed a gathering yesterday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the ruling coalition.
He slammed the rival Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), calling it a 'bunch of liars' and saying its members peddled false promises.
Only the 14-party Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition could guarantee that the power-sharing formula between the races would continue, he said, with an eye on imminent national elections.
He accused PAS members of being purposely vague about turning Malaysia into an Islamic state because they wanted to cheat non-Muslims into voting them in.
'They say there is no need to tell voters about the Islamic state that they want to form. Why? They are scared to tell us because their tactic is to lie to us. They are a bunch of liars,' the Prime Minister said to applause from 10,000 party faithful at the Merdeka Stadium, the historical venue at which Malaysia's independence was proclaimed.
PAS rules Kelantan and Terengganu, and tripled its parliamentary seats to 27 in the last election by taking away seats held by Umno, the linchpin of the BN coalition.
Umno's challenge in the coming general election, which must be held by the end of next year, is seen as stopping PAS from making bigger inroads into Malay-dominated areas, including Kedah and Perlis.
Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir said PAS would not be able to administer the country.
'We do not deny their grasp of religious knowledge, but this does not mean that they know how to administer a modern state. They are limited to supplications to God,' he said.
And while BN made promises it had fulfilled over the years, PAS made the only promise of paradise, which could never be verified.
Dr Mahathir's pitch is aimed at both the Malays who are fence-sitters and at non-Muslims who are uncomfortable with the PAS idea of an Islamic state.
The 77-year-old Premier made another promise at a press conference after the event.
He said that although he would retire as prime minister by the end of next month, he would work to canvass support for the next polls.
'I will myself go down to the ground whether I am a candidate or not, as I remember that a lot of people campaigned for me when I was running,' he said.
He also said he was confident his successor, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, would lead BN to retaining its two-thirds majority in Parliament.
'He has promised to continue the struggle... maybe the style is different, but the policy remains the same,' he said.
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