Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today criticised opposition party PAS for holding ceramah (talks) in the Batu Talam constituency which will see a by-election on Sunday.

Najib, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairperson, said PAS failed to honour its decision to boycott the polls.

"If PAS say they and the opposition parties are going to boycott, then it should be a boycott in every sense of the word," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

The opposition decided to boycott the Pahang state seat by-election in order to press for electoral reforms.

The by-election was called following the death of BN incumbent Tengku Paris Tengku Razlan last month. The Jan 28 contest is between BN's Abdul Aziz Mat Kiram and independent Ng Chee Pang.

PAS flags illegal

The deputy premier also accused PAS of trying to influence Batu Talam voters not to come out and vote.

"If they had the courage, they should have fielded a candidate but they did not do so based on certain reasons and considerations," he said.

Responding to a question, Najib also said PAS flags should not be put in the area. "According to the law, they cannot put up any flags because they are not contesting," he explained.

In a related matter, Najib said he hoped the Election Commission (EC) will not postpone the by-election because the floods in Batu Talam are not serious.

Yesterday, EC said it will postpone the polls if the situation deteriorated.

Commenting further, Najib said the election should proceed except in the event of an extraordinary flood.

"Those who are forced to move (because of the floods) (can) still vote, so there are no logistic problems which cannot be overcome.

"A lot of energy and money have been spent on this election and if we postpone it, it will cost more and the local people will not be able to resume their day to day activities," he said.

Referring to a PAS ceramah held last night, Najib said it showed that PAS will not boycott the by-election because it wanted to reduce the vote majority for BN.

"And if BN's majority is reduced, they (the opposition) will use that to condemn BN," he added.