ALOR STAR – PAS’ leadership is confident that the party can win up to 40 parliamentary seats in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15) compared to the present 18 seats it holds, despite the possibility of not enjoying support from Umno.
Vice-president Datuk Mohd Nik Amar Nik Abdullah said that the party has the experience and a dedicated election machinery to make a difference.
“While PAS’ 18 parliamentary seats were commendable, doubling the number is possible, given the performance of PAS in three states where it holds a majority.
“Our dedicated election machinery can help, so winning up to 40 seats is a possibility,” he said during the wrapping up of the debates at the 68th PAS muktamar in Kota Sarang Semut near here.
Meanwhile, PAS’ central election director Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor told the gathering that the party aims to contest 80 parliamentary seats in GE15.
He said the number is double the 40 seats contested in GE14, and that PAS is analysing the constituencies that achieved the key performance index to be in the list of 80 federal seats.
Nik Amar said that the electorate has started to comprehend PAS’ ability. For example, in Kedah, the PAS-led state government received the highest investments in the country last year.
“Even the prime minister had acknowledged that Kedah has garnered tens of billions in the short time (PAS has held the state). What does this mean? This is just three states we control,” he said.
PAS now controls the administrations in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Nik Amar, who is the Kelantan deputy menteri besar, said that the party’s long-term goal is to position PAS in a manner that its candidate can become the next prime minister.
Meanwhile, fellow vice-president Datuk Idris Ahmad, who is a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs, said that Malays cannot afford a repeat of what happened in the last general election when their votes were split between a few Malay-led parties. He claimed that this caused the future of the community to be compromised.
That was why PAS has always said yes to both Umno and Bersatu for the sake of uniting Malay-based parties, and does not mind being ridiculed by opponents, he said.
“We don’t want a repeat of the last election, we already saw the split then. That is why our narrative has always been on unity. If we continue to remain divided, are we only going to try to get up when we are knocked down?”
Idris said that with a strong majority, PAS can help formulate policies which can better benefit the community and Islam in general. – The Vibes, September 4, 2022
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