He said that was why PAS no longer attacked Najib’s wrongdoings.

“After breaking away from Pakatan Rakyat they are trying to garner support, especially from Najib. And he (PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang) will support Najib’s wrongdoings too,” Mahathir claimed at a public forum at Hao Xiang Chi restaurant here today .

He said Hadi’s move to support Najib had caused disgruntled members to move out to another party after losing their trust in Hadi’s leadership. (Former PAS members launched Amanah last year to try to revive the opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat, which broke up due to differences betweeen partners DAP and PAS.)

Mahathir, speaking to about 500 people from the Chinese community, repeated his calls to reject Hadi’s private member’s bill for greater syariah court powers in Kelantan, including Islamic criminal penalties, such as hudud.

He said Hadi’s bill was not in accordance to Islam. “That is PAS hudud. It is against Islam because Islam puts priority on justice for all. Any laws that separate Muslims and others is unIslamic and it is considered unfair.”

He said hudud penalties can be used in a country that was 100 per cent Muslim, but in Malaysia 40 percent of the citizens were not Muslims and hudud laws would not be implemented fairly.

Hadi private member’s bill seeks to amend federal law, the Syariah Court Act (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965, to pave the way for hudud penalties to be imposed in Kelantan. It will be debated in the Dewan Rakyat in October.