Pas may sit out polls to avoid splitting votes
KUALA TERENGGANU: There is a strong possibility that Pas may sit out the Sungai Kandis byelection if other opposition parties are contesting the state seat.
Pas secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said this might be done to avoid threecornered fights.
He said based on the outcome of the Pas central committee meeting yesterday, the party would offer only one candidate for the seat if other opposition parties, such as Barisan Nasional (BN), did not contest.
In the 14th General Election (GE14), Pas recorded only a moderate achievement in Sungai Kandis when it secured about 7,500 votes.
“Four parties contested the seat, which were Pakatan Harapan (PH), Pas, BN and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM). Pas obtained only 7,573 votes, compared with BN (11,518) and PH (23,998).
“As such, if we place our candidate and congest the playing field, it will only see a repeat of GE14 and we would have failed the objective of securing the seat.”
Takiyuddin said this at Pas’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at Stadium Negeri yesterday.
Asked whether Pas would support BN’s candidate, Takiyuddin said they would make a decision on the matter.
However, he said no instructions had been issued as the decision on who should be the state representative was the right of the voters.
“Should we decide to contest, we would seek the support of all voters, including from Umno, as the majority of the voters in the area are Malays, and as such, all parties would be fielding Malay candidates,” he said.
The Sungai Kandis state seat, which comes under the Kota Raja parliamentary constituency, fell vacant after its incumbent assemblyman, Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei, died of lymphoma cancer last Monday.