Pas to contest 100 parliamentary seats, says Amar
KOTA BARU: Pas has identified more than 100 parliamentary seats it will contest in the 14th General Election (GE14).
Its vice-president Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah hopes it will win the seats, which account for just under half of the 222 parliamentary seats in the country.
To ensure the party achieves its target, Amar, who is also deputy Kelantan menteri besar, said it would rely on members of its third bloc.
He added that Pas would not rely on any other political parties in the general election.
“Pas has decided a long time ago not to cooperate with Pakatan Harapan (PH). The decision was taken even when Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had yet to join the pact.
“We will not hold any discussion with PH because it is made up of DAP and Parti Amanah Negara (PAN).
“In the next election, we will rely only on Gagasan Sejahtera, which is made up of several parties and non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” he said after the state exco meeting here yesterday.
Amar said Pas was prepared to face three-cornered and even four-cornered fights in the polls and had made all the necessary preparations to face this eventuality.
“Since we (Pas) cut ties with DAP and Pakatan was declared ‘buried’, we have accepted that there will be more three-cornered contests in the general election.
“This is the a scenario that we must face,” he said.
Amar was commenting on PH ending its cooperation with Pas in the next general election.
The pact’s chairman, Dr Mahathir, had said PH would not work with Pas in the general election, even at the state level.
On the crisis involving PKR in the state, Amar denied Pas’s involvement in its former ally’s internal affairs.
“I believe there are internal problems in the party as its leaders are fighting among themselves and Pas is not the third party which caused the problem.
“Pas’s main objective is to bring down Barisan Nasional (in the next GE). PKR is not our goal,” he said.
The state PKR leadership crisis came to a head when its Youth chief, Dr Hafidz Rizal Amran, was “removed” from his position recently.
PKR National Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was reported to have said that this was made following the central wing’s meeting with its state counterparts last week.
Following Dr Hafidz’s sacking, Mohd Khairul Aamin Abdul Rahman was on Monday appointed as the new Kelantan PKR Youth chief.