KOTA BARU: Kelantan will remain without cinemas as it has been over the past 32 years.

Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said the decision not to have movie theatres in the state was made long time ago and the state government has no plan to change its policy.

He said the Kelantan government believed that there was no demand for cinemas from the people.

"The state government found that there is no need for a cinema to open in Kelantan, therefore the ban on cinema will stay. 

"This has never been an issue for us before, until recently with the release of Mat Kilau (which saw Pas Youth chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari allegedly attending one of its screenings in Kuala Lumpur)," he

Mohd Amar who is state Pas deputy commissioner said this after launching the 43th Pas Muslimat annual meeting here today.

He believed that the issue was played up by certain quarters to undermine the state government.

"The next general-election is around the corner, so we can see that certain quarters want to play up certain issues with Pas and the current (state) government," he added.

The Panchor assemblyman said Kelantan people were free to travel to other states to watch movies in cinemas.

Mohd Amar also clarified that cinemas in Kedah and Terengganu were opened during the previous state administrations and not under Pas.

"We will leave it to the current (Pas-led) governments in the respective states to deal with the (cinema) issue," he added.

Mohd Amar in a recent interview with YouTuber Feng Ren Guan said Kelantan people were really not bothered by the fact that there was no cinema in the state, as there were many streaming services available in the market.

It was reported that Pas Youth chief Ahmad Fadhli was seen attending a screening of Mat Kilau at a cinema in Kuala Lumpur, which created an uproar on social media as Kelantan state government did not allow cinemas to operate there as it could promote social ills.

Cinema ban in Kelantan came into effect when Pas took over the administration of the state from Barisan Nasional (BN) in 1990.