PAS will skip the Tanjung Piai by-election, seen as a key test for Pakatan Harapan after 500 days in power, as it has traditionally been a Barisan Nasional seat, said the Islamist party’s deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
The party will instead help BN in its campaign, even if a non-Muslim candidate is fielded, as was the case in past elections, he said.
“In principle, it is a BN seat. We will soon have a meeting, maybe next week and they (BN) will provide more information.
“It is more relevant for a BN candidate to contest there. Whoever it is, we leave it to them,” Tuan Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insight.
MCA has traditionally contested the parliamentary seat in Johor, which fell vacant last week after the death of its MP, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Md Farid Md Rafik.
But MCA’s weak performance and the swing of Chinese voters to Pakatan Harapan in past elections have raised questions whether the Chinese party will be given the seat again, more so after PAS and BN lynchpin party Umno are now in a formal unity pact.
In the 14th general election (GE14) last year, MCA’s Wee Jeck Seng, the seat’s two-term incumbent, lost to Farid of Bersatu by a slim 524 votes.
Tanjung Piai is a mixed seat with Malay voters making up 57% of the voters, Chinese (42%) and Indian (1%).
Farid won 21,255 votes, however, the combined votes for PAS candidate Nordin Othman and Wee came to 23,693.
On the PH side, DAP, which contested the seat since it was formed in 2003, gave way to Bersatu in GE14, and will likely do so again.
In two elections, DAP fielded Malay candidates against MCA, with Ahmad Ton in 2008 and Mahdzir Ibrahim in 2013.
Johor PAS commissioner Abdullah Hussein said he hoped BN would field a Malay candidate this time.
“Basically, we have no problem with anyone contesting, we just hope it will be a Malay-Muslim candidate. The majority of the people there are Malays.
“In a general election, the focus is less on whether it is a Muslim candidate or not, but (for a by-election) it will be easier for us to work with a Malay-Muslim candidate,” Abdullah said.
He added that Johor PAS considered the Tanjung Piai by-election an important one to gauge political sentiment in Johor, which had been an Umno state until last year and second, to test response to the PAS-Umno unity charter.
“This is of concern to both of us (PAS and Umno). Win or lose, it will be a benchmark for the rise of the ummah (believers, against the ruling government) and also for PAS and Umno.”
The Election Commission is expected to set the dates for the by-election next week.
– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com
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