Hadi denied for being not serious to win

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was ardently denied any suggestion that his party would lean back and give Barisan Nasional (BN) a stronger chance of winning the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections.

He said there was no truth to such stories, Singapore’s Today Online reported, despite signs of warming ties between PAS and BN’s main party Umno in recent months.

“It is not PAS that is giving an advantage to the ruling party, but other opposition parties that have insisted on nominating candidates despite our strong presence in the two constituencies.

“DAP should realise that the party that can fight BN is PAS, not Amanah. So, why is DAP supporting Amanah?” Hadi said at the Kuala Kangsar by-election nomination centre yesterday.

He was replying to a question about the doubts raised by many political observers that PAS was not serious in contesting the dual by-elections.

Many observers felt, the gathering of BN and PAS leaders, seated together over breakfast at the Sungai Besar nomination centre yesterday morning, as a sign of warm ties between the once-fierce rivals.

In Kuala Kangsar, it is a four-cornered fight with BN’s Mastura Mohd Yazid, widow of former MP Wan Muhammad Khair-il Wan Ahmad; Perak PAS women’s wing leader Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad; Kuala Kangsar Amanah vice-chief Prof Dr Ahmad Termizi Ramli; and independent Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary vying for the seat.

In Sungai Besar, the contest is more straightforward between opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan, represented by Azhar Abdul Shukur of Parti Amanah Negara; Budiman Mohd Zohdi (BN) and Dr Abdul Rani Osman (PAS).

Both by-elections, to be held on June 18, were called for following the deaths of incumbents Wan Mohammad Khair-il (Kuala Kangsar) and Noriah Kasnon (Sungai Besar) in a helicopter crash in Sebuyau, Sarawak, on May 5.

Meanwhile, PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad criticised DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, for being an immature statesman.

Referring to attacks by the DAP against the Islamist party, Idris said, such actions would not endear the party to the Malay community in either constituency.

“They (DAP) will never hold any power, be it at the federal level or Perak when they do this,” he was reported to have said, according to the Singapore daily.

Source -FMT-