Amanah: PAS agenda to capture Penang will fail

PAS' agenda to capture Penang has received a lukewarm response from Penangites, with its candidacy announcement last night showing PAS merely wants to contest Malay seats, the party's splinter group, Amanah, said.

Penang Amanah Youth wing communications director Mohd Faruk Abdul Rahman said PAS is contesting 16 Malay and two non-Malay seats in the state that have seen an increase in Malay voters - Bukit Tengah, with the incumbent being from PKR, and Sungai Pinang, the incumbent being from DAP.

"It seems PAS Penang is more focused on splitting votes in all seats it wants to contest. This makes PAS appear as if it is helping Umno and BN get an easy win in the election," Faruk said.

In Pongsu Seribu, Kepala Batas, last night, Penang PAS commissioner Fauzi Yusof said PAS was collaborating with its allies in Gagasan Sejahtera and People's Alternative Party in the coming GE14.

The election is fixed for May 9, while nomination day is April 28.

Faruk is also not impressed with the PAS candidates in Penang, claiming they are "parachute candidates" as they do not hail from the constituencies they are to contest.

'Parachute candidates will not be well received'

"Such parachute candidates will not be well received by the local people," he said.

He said PAS Penang seems to be only brave enough to contest six out of 13 parliamentary seats in the state, where five of these and one state seat are Malay majority constituencies.

One of the non-Malay majority seats in the parliamentary constituency of Bayan Baru has seen an increase in Malay voters.

"PAS has no place in the hearts of non-Malays. Now we know how far is their struggle against DAP, which they consider as a target and reason for all their troubles," he said.

He also criticised PAS for fielding only Malay candidates, saying the party lacks the muhibbah(goodwill) spirit.

"As if there are only Malay Muslims in Penang, PAS has denied the existence of the 41 percent Chinese and 11 percent Indians in the state," Faruk added.

However, the PAS non-Muslim Supporters Club has expressed its gratitude to the Islamic party and announced that its members will contestseven parliamentary seats nationwide. - Mkini