Khalid Samad on who really helped PAS in Kelantan, Terengganu

Three-term Shah Alam MP says hardcore PAS supporters came out in droves to vote when analysts said BN may win in the east coast.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad says hardcore PAS supporters came out to ensure victory for the Islamist party in the cast coast.

PETALING JAYA: Shah Alam’s three-term MP Khalid Samad believes PAS dominated Kelantan and Terengganu in the newly concluded general election as predictions by analysts in the run-up to the polls made the party’s supporters more wary than usual.

Speaking to FMT, Khalid said several analysts had predicted that Barisan Nasional (BN) would gain a foothold in the east coast due to several factors, including the split in votes between PAS and Pakatan Harapan (PH).

“When voters in the east coast heard this, they got worried about voting for a party other than PAS.”

Overwhelming support for the Islamist party had led PAS to form the state governments in both Kelantan and Terengganu.

Khalid also rejected the notion by some analysts that PAS had inadvertently helped PH win by denying seats to BN in the east coast.

He said the idea was for BN to let PAS win in the east coast and, in return, have the party compete in all seats outside the east coast to create three-cornered fights.

“My theory is that Umno ensured PAS had a very good chance in Kelantan and Terengganu by putting up rather lame candidates in these two states.

“In return, PAS was to make it harder for PH by splitting votes in other seats.

“In certain areas, this proved effective in denying us victory. There were quite a few seats that we lost because of these three-cornered fights.”

However, Khalid said there were also some constituencies where this plan had backfired.

“In some areas, three-cornered fights actually benefited us but only when it was a very well-informed public and where the non-Malays made up 25% of the voter base,” he said, adding that he was speaking in very general terms. -FMT