Political colours: The flag war has been extremely fierce in Kelantan with both sides showing the passion and intention to take the state.

Promises of a place in heaven for those who support PAS are wearing thin after 23 years in power in Kelantan and the party is struggling to match Barisan Nasional’s pledge of bringing spiritual and material development to all Kelantanese.

A HALF moon in the sky, a few stars and a dark, narrow road running through padi fields may sound romantic but it was like crossing into the twilight zone.

We were looking for the village where the most talked-about ulama in Kelantan politics today was holding a ceramah. After lots of zig-zags and too many wrong turns, we found the place deep in the Tumpat countryside.

The scene was surreal – in an open space off the gloomy country road were about 2,000 people, their gaze rapt and transfixed on a large projection scene while a powerful voice boomed from two loudspeakers.

The voice belonged to Ustaz Rujhan Abdul Rahman, an ulama figure who has grown disillusioned with PAS and its leaders. As a result, he has joined forces with Umno to expose the contradictions of PAS, be it the party’s religious utterances or its political pronouncements.

Ustaz Rujhan’s sessions are factual, accompanied by illustrations and have a strong religious overtone. His following is growing by the day and he has gone on to expose unfulfilled promises made by PAS leaders as well as the absurd things said by PAS leaders on the ceramah circuit.

Every single one of his sessions draws people by the thousands no matter how remote the venue.

That evening, many in the crowd left with stunned looks on their faces as though they had just had an epiphany. One man at the session that evening said it was his third time listening to Ustaz Rujhan while a woman, who had brought along her relative from outstation, said she had never heard anyone speak like that in her life.

Rujhan: Powerful orator puts PAS on the defensive.

Rujhan has become one of Umno’s most formidable weapons in the election campaign.

Some say it is the way he presents his case against PAS, combining religious and factual arguments with graphics to make his point. But it also shows that Kelantanese are finally ready to accept rational criticism of PAS and its leaders.

The Rujhan phenomenon is one reason for the growing opinion that a wind of change is blowing through Kelantan in the GE13. Umno ceramah have never been this popular and Rujhan has received death threats and needs to move about with a security detail.

Various Muslim groups from the sekolah pondok tradition have also aligned themselves with Umno.

They are angry over the kalimah Allah issue, as they believe the term “Allah” should be exclusive to Muslims. They do not like the way PAS leaders have defended DAP’s insistence that the revered “Allah” term be permitted in Malay translations of the Bible.

A statement by Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat about the Holy Prophet has also riled many of them and they think he has gone too far.

Barisan is also fielding a number of ulama candidates in Kelantan, among whom is Ustaz Mohd Shamsul Mohd Yusof, who is a well-known figure from the sekolah pondok community in Pasir Tumboh.

All this has put PAS on defensive mode for the first time in years.

A few days ago, Nik Aziz hit out at the ulama in Umno.

Nik Amar: PAS ulama who speaks good English.

“In Kelantan, we see the trishaw riders wearing Rolex watches. When we ask, they say very cheap, bought in Rantau Panjang. That is what the ulama in Umno are like. Outside, they are ulama but they are like fake watches,” he said.

State PAS deputy commissioner Datuk Nik Amar Nik Abdullah, who is an ulama himself, said: “The ulama candidates in Umno offer nothing new to Kelantan. I know them. We have run the state based on Islamic policies, we showed that religious men can lead in politics.”

The thing is that the ulama class is no longer exclusive to PAS and they are a sign that the ground is shifting after 23 years of PAS rule.

Or as Kelantan-born Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said, a baby born in 1990, the year PAS came to power, is now an adult and voting for the first time.

However, not many are convinced that the ground shift is big enough for PAS to fall. The power of incumbency cannot be underestimated and the conventional wisdom is that PAS will still be up there for as long as Nik Aziz, now 82, is around. That is his star power despite health and ageing issues.

But a 15-day campaign is a long period and anything can happen.

For instance, DAP’s threat to use the PAS logo in the campaign would have further bled the party’s support among the Malays and alienated the Islamist groups. The hardcore PAS supporters would still support the party but allowing DAP to use the PAS logo would have angered the Malay fence-sitters.

Oil royalties

A big campaign issue for PAS is their demand for greater oil royalties from Petronas which they said would enable the state to implement projects that the people need. This issue has traction among locals who want more gains from the natural resources.

Mustapa: Kelantanese like his humility.

However, PAS leaders in the state have been reacting to issues rather than setting the pace on issues. It was only after Umno came up with plans to build a new stadium that the PAS government quickly followed with their own proposal. The present stadium is rundown and does not even have an electronic board to keep score for football crazy Kelantanese.

The notion that Kelantanese do not care about development is no longer true. They want affordable housing, good infrastructure and the modern facilities that they see in other states.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s announcement that he wants to bring seven big projects to Kelantan created a buzz among many ordinary folk. These projects catered to both their material and spiritual needs and they ranged from a modern highway between Kota Baru and Gua Musang to a new mosque that would be the pride of the state.

Seven has also become a special word in Kelantan.

Apart from seven big projects, Najib recently outlined the “Seven Sins” of the opposition which included unfulfilled election promises and PAS’ regression on their Islamic State goal.

Nik Aziz has hit back with accusations against Umno. Banners of Nik Aziz with the heading “7 Dosa” are to be found all over Kota Baru.

The banners quote the Mentri Besar as saying: “Since when have sin and blessings been part of the vocabulary of Umno. For 23 years they have sinned against the people, now suddenly they are talking about sin and blessings.”

Kelantan politics often has a lot to do with who is holier and more pious and PAS politicians are not shy about claiming that they are holier and closer to the Almighty.

He also recently said that the prayers of Umno members will not get blessings from above because the party rejects Islam. That was pretty outrageous and Umno supporters think that the accusation is reminiscent of the Amanat Haji Hadi during the 1980s when a young Datuk Seri Hadi Awang had condemned Umno members as infidels.

Perhaps the only issue that does not carry a religious connotation is football. Supporters of both sides are crazy about the game and Kelantan’s football team, the Red Warriors, is probably more popular than either PAS or Umno in the state.

There is a Red Warriors Cafe opposite the stadium and Umno has adopted red as its campaign colour.

Umno has the upper hand here because Kelantan’s football took off in a big way after former Umno strongman Datuk Seri Annuar Musa took over the state football association. That is why Umno has continued to keep him on as the parliamentary candidate for Kok Lanas.

But the man that many ordinary Kelantanese are keen about is state Umno chief Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed. He is the type of politician they can relate to. His home in Jeli is no different from the average kampung house. His father’s house in Bachok is just as nondescript.

The International Trade and Industry Minister has a first class degree in economics from a top Australian university but he does not talk big and has no airs whatsoever. He has been going around listening to what the people want and trying to solve their problems.

He is also diligent and a stickler for punctuality. Recently, when his driver failed to turn up on time, he took a taxi to his appointment because he did not want to be late. He is probably the only Minister who has ever arrived for a function in a taxi.

Mustapa is a rare breed and he is Barisan’s candidate for the Mentri Besar post. The PAS side has been running him down at their ceramah but it is difficult to find fault with him. Although he is not an ulama like Nik Aziz, his personality and track record is what a good Muslim should be about.

As an aide of Mustapa pointed out: “He has no baggage like having children contesting in the election.”

PAS has been very successful in maintaining the support of Kelantanese with promises based on religious claims.

PAS leaders have promised their supporters a place in heaven and have even told supporters that God instructed them to take over Putrajaya from Barisan.

Religion propelled PAS to power in Kelantan but this time around, it is religious as well as development issues which are shaking the party as it defends Kelantan against an ascendant Umno.

> Joceline Tan can be reached at joceline@thestar.com.my

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