By : AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition party PAS today vowed to defy a police ban on political rallies, saying the order was unconstitutional.

Party president Fadzil Noor, said his party would continue to organise "ceramahs" - popular political gatherings which mix politics and satire.

"The mainstream media - television and newspapers - are closed to us. We are under attack by the ruling Barisan Nasional with false allegations. Ceramahs are our only avenue to the people to clear these allegations," he told AFP.

Police and PAS accused each other of violence at a rally on Sunday in Kedah in which 31 people were arrested.

Police said PAS supporters attacked officers with stones, sticks and acid and set fire to a police truck when they tried to break up an illegal gathering.

In terms of a restriction on political rallies, a gathering of four or more people requires a police permit. In July last year, however, police said they would no longer issue permits for ceramah.

"From now on, we will not allow ceramah without permits to take place even for a minute," deputy Home Affairs minister Chor Chee Heung said Wednesday.

"Be rational"

Fadzil expressed fears that tough action by police could spark violence in the future.

"We urge the police to be rational in their work. We do not want violence," he said.

Fadzil said the heavy-handed action of the police in breaking up the rally reflected the declining influence of prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's ruling Umno in rural Malaysia.

"Umno is getting desperate. There is internal brickering in the party. So they are trying to stop our growing influence with the help of the police," he said.

PAS, which accuses Mahathir's ruling coalition of being corrupt and unIslamic, made gains in 1999 elections but has been on the defensive since the Sept 11 terror attacks on the United States over its plans to impose a purist Islamic State.