KOTA BARU – Former Kelantan strongman Datuk Husam Musa is cutting short his sabbatical from politics to contest the Pasir Mas parliamentary seat on behalf of Pakatan Harapan (PH) to help the coalition in its aim to seize three of the 14 federal seats in the state.
Husam, who quit as Kelantan state chairman of PH component Amanah three years ago, has been on a self-imposed exile until he felt a calling recently to resume his struggle in the 15th general election (GE15).
Interestingly, he was announced by PKR, a partner of Amanah in PH, as its candidate to battle for the seat.
It is an uphill battle for PH in Kelantan because its candidates will be facing contestants from PAS, which has held power over the state since 1990. Candidates from Barisan Nasional’s (BN) lead party Umno are also expected to hold sway in certain constituencies.
However, Husam is a former PAS leader. He has in fact previously served as a state executive councillor in Kelantan under the Islamist party. It is understood that he still commands significant respect among locals.
He was fired by PAS in 2016 and proceeded to join splinter outfit Amanah where he became its vice-president.
There appeared to be an early confirmation on his social media of his intention to vie for Pasir Mas, a constituency long dominated by PAS.
He had also told reporters yesterday that the Amanah leadership is aware of his decision to contest there under PKR. He added that he has to fill his membership form to join PKR.
He is expected to clash with Ahmad Fadhli Shaari, the Pasir Mas incumbent, who is also deputy head of PAS’ youth wing.
Ironically, Fadhli used to be an ally when Husam was a PAS vice-president years ago.
Husam is also expected to contend with former Pasir Mas MP, Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who is now part of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed’s coalition of Gerakan Tanah Air.
Considered by many quarters to be a protege of the former Kelantan menteri besar and PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Husam has witnessed his political fortunes nosedive since Nik Aziz’s demise in 2015.
Husam had won the Kubang Kerian parliamentary seat in 1999. However, he lost his place in the Dewan Rakyat when he was fielded in Putrajaya, which he failed to wrest from Umno in the subsequent election in 2013.
He also served as state assemblyman for Salor in Kelantan from 2008 to 2018.
He then lost in the races for both the Kota Baru parliamentary and Salor state seats in the last election in 2018.
Known as a maverick, Husam had initially offered to take on Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali in Gombak despite the Bersatu strategist being the incumbent there. However, PH apparently feels that he is more suited to remain in Kelantan.
“Winning or losing does not matter. We should fight on principled grounds,” Husam said when contacted by The Vibes.
Addressing the crowd at the PKR gathering in Selangor last night, Husam said Nik Aziz had told him that PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was the most qualified candidate to be prime minister due to his leadership qualities.
“Voters have a choice of who should be the prime minister – (including) between caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob are Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“But none meets the mark that Anwar sets. It is that simple,” he said.
“We are heading into an uneven and uncertain era with new technologies and new global world order. We need policies that work, and I believe Anwar can deliver.”
Husam said that it is inexcusable for those who betrayed PH to claim that they were forced out, stressing that whatever happens internally should be kept behind closed doors.
By defecting to another party, the traitors had triggered an external move that affected everybody when the previously elected PH government fell as a result of it in early 2020, he said. – The Vibes, October 29, 2022
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