PAS rubbishes rumours of Perikatan fielding Dr Mahathir in Kemaman by-election

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — PAS has reportedly refuted rumours suggesting Perikatan Nasional's (PN) intention to field former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as a candidate in the upcoming Kemaman parliamentary by-election.

In a report by Malay daily Utusan Malaysia, the Islamist party’s vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said that there has been no official discussion within the party regarding candidate selection for the by-election.

“No discussions so far and we have actually not yet sat down among the top leadership about our preparations for the by-election, especially on deciding a candidate.

“We don’t even have a date to discuss the candidate yet, maybe next week I will go to Kuala Lumpur,” he was quoted as saying by the news portal when met at the Terengganu State Legislative Assembly yesterday.

Dr Mahathir was recently appointed as an unofficial adviser to four state governments led by PAS and PN.

Ahmad Samsuri, who also serves as the Terengganu menteri besar, clarified that PAS had no immediate plans to nominate a candidate from Bersatu in the Kemaman by-election, asserting that it has traditionally been a PAS stronghold.

According to the report, he added that PAS had not ruled out the possibility of incumbent Che Alias Hamid representing the party once again in the by-election.

“All possibilities related to candidates can happen, including external candidates, as long as the nomination of candidates is not made,” he was quoted as saying.

On September 26, the Election Court decided to nullify Terengganu PAS committee member Che Alias’s GE15 victory in the Kemaman parliamentary seat in Terengganu.

Election judge Datuk Anselm Charles Fernandis had accepted his client’s allegations that there had been bribery in several official events of the Terengganu state government through the distribution of i-Belia and i-Siswa aid funds to voters during the GE15 campaign period to garner votes for Che Alias.

On January 3, Wan Mohamad Hisham Wan Abdul Jalil had filed the election petition on behalf of Terengganu Umno to challenge the Kemaman GE15 election result.

In GE15 held on November 19 last year, Che Alias had won the Kemaman seat in a four-cornered fight with 65,714 votes, which gave him a 27,179 vote majority over Barisan Nasional candidate and Terengganu Umno chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Said. Ahmad was the candidate with the second-highest number of votes at 38,535.