GUA MUSANG (Aug 14): Veteran Umno leader Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has hit out at PAS, saying that the party’s 46 offers for the people in the Nenggiri state by-election are unrealistic and most likely to turn out to be empty promises.

He said this was based on PAS’ track record of broken promises, ever since its first manifesto in 1959.

“They have done this before. They made promises that were never intended to be kept. Their manifesto to create a welfare state also turned out to be an empty promise,” the 12-term Member of Parliament (MP) for Gua Musang said in a recent interview here.

The Nenggiri by-election this Saturday sees a straight fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani, who is representing the unity government, and PAS candidate Mohd Rizwadi Ismail representing Perikatan Nasional (PN).

It was called after Kelantan state assembly Speaker Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah declared the seat vacant on June 19 because its assemblyman, Mohd Azizi Abu Naim, had ceased to be a member of Bersatu on June 13.

Last Monday, PN launched its manifesto, Khidmat, outlining seven main thrusts with 46 offers if it wins the Nenggiri state by-election, while BN only offered the undivided commitment of its representatives to listen to and solve the problems of the people should he be given the mandate.

Ku Li, who is also BN director for the Nenggiri by-election, said BN’s decision about not launching any manifesto was done collectively, and not a one man’s decision.

“This by-election is just about filling one vacant seat. So, there is no need to make promises that we may not be able to keep because the state government is already formed,” he said.

He said the same goes with BN’s by-election campaign strategy which does not involve large-scale ceramah events.

“The people can just switch on their phones to watch and listen to what we have to say, but I did tell our Wanita Umno, Puteri and Umno Youth members to continue making as many house visits as possible,” he said.

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