Lokman attends PAS ceramah as Sg Kandis campaign heats up

The BN candidate mingles with the PAS crowd, as part of his efforts to get the Islamist party's support for the Aug 4 by-election.

Lokman Noor Adam (in white Baju Melayu), greets PAS supporters in Klang.

KLANG: Barisan Nasional’s candidate for the Sungai Kandis by-election, Lokman Noor Adam today appeared in a PAS event, where leaders from the Islamist party took turns hitting out at the Pakatan Harapan government.

It comes as senior Umno leaders made gestures to PAS, hoping for support to defeat PKR in an election that will be seen as PH’s first litmus test after forming the federal government last May.

Among PAS leaders who spoke at the event, held at the party’s centre in Kota Raja – the parliamentary constituency of Sungai Kandis – were Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki, Nasrudin Hassan, Khairuddin Aman Razali and Selangor PAS chief Salehin Muhyi.

Lokman came accompanied by a group of Umno supporters, and joined the crowd numbering in the hundreds.

Salehin in his speech said the event tonight was not related to the Sungai Kandis by-election, but was part of “Bangkit Selangor”, a series of special programmes to rejuvenate the party in the wake of its poor performance in Selangor in the May polls.

“We had planned this earlier, before the death of the Sungai Kandis state assemblyman,” he said.

The state seat fell vacant following the death of its incumbent from PKR, Mat Shuhaimi Shafie, on July 2.

Lokman is standing against PKR’s Zawawi Mughni in the Aug 4 by-election. PAS said it was staying away from the contest to avoid splitting opposition votes, but has so far stopped short of urging its members to vote for BN.

Lokman had earlier said that he would need PAS’ support to win the election.

“There is no way I can win if PAS members do not help me. Impossible,” he told FMT last week.

In his speech today, Salehin urged voters in Sungai Kandis to support “the opposition”.

“PAS is not contesting, so who should we vote for? The answer is, PAS is the opposition in the state assembly, it is the opposition in Parliament, so we must vote for the opposition. It’s not a question of supporting BN or Umno, but the opposition must be strengthened for check and balance in the state government,” he said. -FMT