Nothing ‘weird’ in wanting political rivals to lose, says Annuar

 The PAS election director for the Johor polls defends the party's strategy which some say led to Barisan Nasional's landslide win.

PAS central committee member Annuar Musa said there was nothing odd about a strategy aimed at preventing their rivals, Pakatan Harapan and DAP, from winning.

PETALING JAYA:

PAS central committee member Annuar Musa defended the party’s strategy for the Johor election, which critics described as treacherous and which allowed Barisan Nasional to clinch a landslide victory.

Annuar, who was the PAS election director for the Johor polls, said there was nothing odd about a strategy aimed at preventing their rivals, Pakatan Harapan and DAP, from winning.

“If you can’t win, you can at least ensure your enemies lose,” he said in a Facebook post.

Earlier today, former Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi accused PAS of weird politics as the Islamic party was willing to “kill off” its own Perikatan Nasional partner, Bersatu, at yesterday’s polls.

Puad was referring to PAS’s decision not to help its PN partner during the election campaign.

PAS had severed ties with Bersatu prior to the Johor election.

The Islamic party had also issued a directive for members to back BN in constituencies in which the opposition coalition was not contesting, a move that some critics described as “treacherous”.

Annuar, however, said there was nothing weird about PAS’s politics.

“It would be weird if we try to defeat our allies,” he said.

Both BN and PH, partners in the federal unity government, contested all 56 seats in the state election.

BN won 48, while PH secured the remaining eight. PN was wiped out after losing all 33 seats it contested, including the three it won in the 2022 state election. - FMT