Social media attacks cost PAS at 2018 polls, says women’s leader

Nuridah Mohd Salleh is head of the PAS Muslimat, its women’s wing. (Facebook pic)

KUANTAN: Attacks on PAS through social media were responsible for the party’s failure to make progress in the 2018 general election, according to the leader of the PAS women’s wing, Nuridah Mohd Salleh.

She said a post-mortem analysis of the party’s performance in the general election showed that “we may have overlooked the role that should have been played by the women’s wing through social media”.

“As we failed to focus or give serious thought to this area, we missed a lot of opportunities.“

Nuridah, speaking at the PAS Muslimat general assembly today, said the women’s wing must understand the influence of the mass media, the main source of information for the public, and various propaganda were being used to attack the party through various mediums of communication.

“PAS was put in a bad light and promoted as an extremist and fanatic party.

“If we do not handle these propaganda attacks wisely, such accusations could influence women voters in the general election,” she said.

(In the 2018 general election, PAS lost three seats in the Dewan Rakyat. It gained seats in the state assemblies of Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah and Pahang, but lost seats in Selangor, Johor and Melaka.)

Nuridah said the cooperation between PAS and Umno was a major issue which should be carefully planned in ensuring unity among Muslims. The women’s wing would have to play a more active role in convincing Umno Wanita to achieve this agenda, she said. - FMT