Permatang Pauh by-election: PAS using Friday sermons to campaign

The Friday sermons today at Masjid Batu in Kampung Pertama in Permatang Pauh near here saw a preacher use it for political purposes by asking the congregation to vote for the PKR candidate in the Permatang Pauh by-election on May 7.

The preacher Subri Arshad urged Muslim voters in the parliamentary constituency to support PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also the candidate for her party.

The congregation at the mosque is said to be made of mostly hardcore PAS supporters. PAS together with PKR and the DAP are the partners of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

"If people question my actions, whether I can say this in a sermon, I wish to state that Islam does not separate religion and politics," he said in the first sermon during the Friday prayers.

In the sermon, he also criticised the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax by the government.

Subri was also the losing PAS candidate in the 12th General Election for the Kepala Batas parliamentary seat. He was trounced by the then prime minister and UMNO president Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.