PAS hopes youths seeing red over PH-BN alliance will paint Tioman green

PAS believes the alliance between Pakatan Harapan and BN to form the state government in Pahang will have repercussions in the battle for the Tioman seat.

“The alliance has definitely made an impact on youths who voted Perikatan Nasional (in the general election) for a government that is clean, free of corruption and stable,” said Tioman PAS Youth secretary Khairul Izwan Ghazali.

Describing the constituency as crucial for PN, he urged voters living outside of Tioman to return home to cast their ballots.

Khairul was responding to a question by Harakahdaily if the Harapan-BN union in Pahang left an impression on youths with regard to the interests of the Malay race and Islam.

Polling for the Tioman seat was deferred to Dec 7 after PN candidate Md Yunus Ramli, 61, died on Nov 19, just hours before the general election. 

The election resulted in a hung state assembly with PN winning 17 seats, BN 16 and Harapan eight.

Speaking at a ceramah in Tioman last night, Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said BN decided to join hands with Harapan because the latter, unlike PN, did not set conditions.

The Tioman polls and the contest for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat in Kedah, which was also postponed to Dec 7 due to the death of a candidate, are viewed as a litmus test for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his “unity government”, which also comprises BN.

Harapan is just ‘nasi tambah’

In Tioman, Harapan has decided to opt out of the race to give BN an advantage despite fielding a candidate, whose name is still on the ballot paper.

However, PAS vice-president Mohd Amar Abdullah did not attach much significance to the move.

“We see that Harapan has no potential in Tioman because PN’s real challenger is BN.

“Harapan is just considered ‘nasi tambah’ (additional rice). They expected to face problems so they decided to pull out,” he added.

The Tioman contest will see BN’s Mohd Johari Hussain taking on PN’s Nor Idayu Hashim and others.

In Padang Serai, where Harapan is the two-term incumbent, the coalition has decided against pulling out of the race despite the BN candidate C Sivarraajh urging it to do so.

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- Mkini