ALOR STAR – PAS has called on the Election Commission (EC) to fund the travel expenses of outstation voters so they can return home safely to exercise their democratic right.
Instead of depending on political parties to fill the gap in funding outstation voters’ return, PAS elections director Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor wants the commission to study the possibility of granting aid to the voters.
“This will relieve the financial burden placed on political parties.
“A substantial amount is devoted towards subsidising the travel costs of some voters who have required us to help aid them in their journey home to vote,” he said after visiting the media booth at the 68th PAS muktamar gathering in Kota Sarang Semut here.
In recent elections, many outstation voters have approached political parties to subsidise the cost of their trip home to vote, especially those working in neighbouring countries or those in the Klang Valley, said Sanusi, who is also the Kedah menteri besar.
Commenting on preparations for the 15th general election, Sanusi said that PAS’ election machinery is now 99% ready for battle if Parliament and the states dissolved their assemblies to pave the way for the polls.
“Once we finalise where we will contest, we will shift into fifth gear and be ready.”
Sanusi reiterated that PAS plans to contest at least 80 parliament seats with the objective of securing at least 40 national seats.
In the last election, it contested in 158 seats, but only won 18 Parliament seats, although it is now controlling the state governments in Kedah, Terengganu, and Kelantan.
Sanusi also said that PAS will rely on social media to get across the right messaging about the party, seeing that the information age is now dominated by electronic media.
“In 2018, we were told that the social media outreach was just a 200km radius outside of the Klang Valley, with pockets in state capitals such as George Town (Penang).
“Today, the radius has been extended beyond 200km. It has reached the boundaries of Perlis and Kelantan. So we need to be prepared with the new media.”
He added that PAS would be selective on seat allocation, as it does not want to waste the hard-earned funds of its supporters and members.
“We want to contest seats in which we have the highest chance of winning.”
“PAS will determine the seats based on the strength of the party’s machinery in the respective constituencies, the number of members it has there, and if they have adequate funding to help them campaign effectively.”
Sanusi said that each PAS division is given a key performance index system to keep up with before the Dewan Ulama makes the final selection on which of the 80 seats it wishes to contest. – The Vibes, September 3, 2022
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