SHAH ALAM - Pas' move to ban Oktoberfest and international concerts in the country is one way for the party to cover their failures in the under developed Kelantan, DAP's Kampung Tunku state assemblyman Lim Yi Wei said.
Lim further said it also shows Pas does not have any programmes that benefit the rakyat.
“I’m sure it might appeal to a certain segment of the crowd because some people say certain concerts are provocative, but I think Pas is just playing this as we head to the general election.
“They have nothing else to sell for them to cover their failures in Kelantan,” she told Sinar Daily's Politically Frank segment.
On August 25, Pas Youth chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari urged relevant authorities to ban international concerts.
He also threatened to initiate a nationwide protest unless the scheduled concerts are cancelled.
“We will not hesitate to mobilise resistance throughout the country if (this call) is ignored,“ he said in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, in a parliamentary reply last month, Religious Affairs Minister Datuk Idris Ahmad warned Oktobetfest had the potential to disturb societal cohesion and safety.
He said non-Muslims were not barred from consuming alcohol but the Oktoberfest activities could provoke societal problems as alcohol was consumed openly.
In June, Idris had asked Muslims not to attend Bon Odori, a Japanese cultural eents held in Malaysia for over 40 years. He said a study conducted by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) found that the festival had religious elements.
Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had asked the Selangor Islamic religious department (Jais) to allow the annual Bon Odori festival to continue.
He further told Jais and the Shah Alam City council officers to attend the festival themselves to "see for themselves".
Jais director Shahzihan Ahmad added that the Sultan had attended the festival several years ago and did not find it was detrimental to the practice of the Islamic beliefs.
