PAS aims for five state, two federal seats in Penang

October 01, 2011

KEPALA BATAS, Oct 1 — PAS has set its sights on winning five state seats and two parliamentary seats in Penang in the next general election.

PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa said the party would strive to improve on its results in the last general election, where it only won the Permatang Pasir state seat.

According to Bernama Online, Husam said PAS was targeting to win in the four state seats where the Islamist party had lost by slim majorities in Election 2008.

“We will work to seize back the five state seats we contested in and the two parliamentary seats of Tasek Gelugor and Kepala Batas,” he told the PAS 60th anniversary congress here today.

Husam also said PAS would need more than 60 parliamentary seats if it wished to strengthened the party’s influence in Parliament.

“We will strive to achieve our target of 60 parliamentary seats, and I believe that target is not impossible,” he said.

He pointed out that PAS lost in 15 parliamentary constituencies by fewer than 5,000 votes in the last general election.

At the national level, Husam also said PAS intends to break Umno’s hold on the Malay vote, especially in the Felda settlements.

He said PAS, which upholds Islamic principles, needed another 12 per cent of votes in those areas to do this.

“In the last general election, PAS received more than 39 per cent of Felda votes and we need another 12 per cent to break Umno’s influence,” he said.