– it would be better if the seat was handed over to Pas
With a by-election imminent in Kelantan, Pas has proposed that the Barisan Nasional (BN) let Pas retain the Galas state seat for the sake of Malay unity.
Pas deputy secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan, said today this would also help to check the prolonged political conflict between Umno and PAS.
He said it would only be appropriate for both parties to skip the by-election if they wanted unity among the Malays.
“However, it would be better if the seat was handed over to Pas as the party’s candidate was the incumbent,” he said at a media conference on the Tortura exhibition of medieval instruments of torture and punishment, at the state museum, here.
The Galas by-election has been necessitated by the death from colon cancer of Pas assemblyman Che Hashim Sulaima, 46, yesterday.
Che Hashim had won the seat in the 2008 general election by beating Mohd Saufi Deraman of the BN by a majority of 646 votes. In the 2004 general election, Che Hashim had lost to Mohamad Saufi, by 1,729 votes.
Takiyuddin said both the BN and Pas could save much cost by not contesting the by-election.
He said it would not be something impossible if political parties could collaborate for mutual benefit, as was the case elsewhere.
“Both the BN and Pas have a 50-50 chance of winning the seat in the by-election,” he said, adding that Pas did not place much hope in retaining the seat.
However, Kelantan Pas election machinery advisor Datuk Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah said Galas would be an important testing ground for both BN and Pas as the outcome would depend on current issues and local sentiments.
He said Pas had won the seat in the 2008 general election based on the two issues.
The local sentiments depended on the composition of the voters who comprised Malays, Chinese, Orang Asli and Indians, he said, adding that six of the 13 polling districts were in Orang Asli settlements.
Umno will field a local
as the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate in the coming Galas state seat by-election in Kelantan, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Muhyiddin, who is also Umno deputy president, said the party was prepared to take appropriate measures in facing the by-election after the polling date had been announced by the Election Commission (EC).
The Galas seat is now vacant following the death of its incumbent Che Hashim Sulaima, 48, from Pas, yesterday from colon cancer.
“In fact, after we had been informed of this yesterday, we started thinking. When a by-election is called, we will choose a candidate from Gua Musang (division) which is led by Tengku Razaleigh (Hamzah).
“We will field the best candidate to be decided by the party leadership. We believe that Tengku Razaleigh, as the division head, will assist Datuk Seri Mustapa (Mohamed), as the state Umno liaison chief, in ensuring victory for BN in the by-election,” he said after delivery a keynote address at the International Herald Tribune Forum, here today.
Muhyiddin believed BN would have a 50-50 chance in wresting the Galas seat from Pas. “However, we will not take this contest lightly,” he added.
Meanwhile, at a Press conference held at the Pas headquarters here, party vice-president Salahuddin Ayub, said Pas expected a strong challenge in the by-election as Galas was in the same parliamentary constituency as the state seats of Nenggiri and Paloh which were won by BN in the last general election.
“We will not belittle or look down on the strength of our opponent. What is important is that our party must be in a very strong position to defend the Galas seat,” he said.
Salahuddin said the party would meet on Oct 3 and the agenda would include preparation for the by-election.
The by-election date will be announced once the EC has received the official notice from the Kelantan state assembly Speaker on the vacant seat.
In the 2008 general election, Che Hashim managed to wrest the Galas seat from BN by a 646-vote majority. He obtained 4,399 votes while BN candidate Saufi Deraman had 3,753 votes.-Bernama
