PAS' Mohd Amar hit by '44-1' campaign

 

STATE POLLS | Fissures in PAS’ “fortress Kelantan” have begun to emerge following an ongoing campaign to undermine Kelantan PAS deputy chief Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah.

Amar, 64, is the four-term assemblyperson for Panchor, which has been a PAS stronghold since 1995.

Banners have popped up in the constituency with the message “44-1”, which implied that all voters should vote for PAS, except in Panchor. There are 45 seats in the Kelantan legislative assembly.

It is widely believed that the anti-Amar sentiment started simmering after a video clip of Nik Din Nik Mat emerged after the nomination process.

Nik Din is the younger brother of the late former Kelantan menteri besar and PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat. In the video clip, Nik Din accused Amar of playing a role in the blocking of his nephew Nik Abduh from being fielded as a PAS candidate.

Nik Abduh, 53, was a rising star in PAS until he failed to win a seat in the party’s central committee in 2021. He was later co-opted into the committee.

Following this, the party did not field him for the parliamentary elections last November.

Social media campaign

Apart from banners, there is an ongoing online campaign urging PAS supporters to jettison Amar.

One WhatsApp group known as “Ppakat preboh Nik Amar” (Together, we will take down Amar) claimed that they were organising a convoy from the Klang Valley to Kota Bharu, Kelantan today.

The convoy itinerary included several stops along the way, where they are expected to be greeted by other supporters.

Malaysiakini also found that the “preboh Nik Amar” messages are also making the rounds on social media.

Although observers believe that the ongoing campaign will not be enough to unseat Amar, what will be of interest is whether the campaign will cut his vote share.

In 2018, Amar retained the seat by winning 59.5 percent of the votes cast. Based on the 2022 Parliamentary election, support for PAS in Panchor had risen to 69.5 percent.

Harapan’s best hope

Although the Panchor seat is of great interest to PAS supporters because of this campaign, Pakatan Harapan supporters are keenly watching Kota Lama.

Kota Lama was the only area where PAS did not have clear majority support during the 2022 parliamentary elections and was Harapan’s best hope in Kelantan.

Harapan is fielding Amanah’s Hafidzah Mustakim, who will face Perikatan Nasional-PAS’ Zamri Ismail, Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Andy Tan @ Awang, and independent candidate Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary.

Observers believe that the Kota Lama contest was still a 50:50 race between the Harapan and PN candidates, while some favoured Harapan because PN was no longer fielding a Chinese candidate.

Kota Lama incumbent Tan Teng Loon @ Annuar Tan Abdullah was the only non-Malay PAS member to have been elected as a legislator and decided to retire after serving five terms as the Kota Lama assemblyperson.

Hafidzah (above) is a seasoned politician that currently leads Amanah’s women’s wing in Kelantan. She ran for the Tanjong Mas state seat in 2018 and the Kota Bharu parliamentary seat in 2022 but was not successful.

This time around, Hafidzah’s campaign is banking on the Harapan-BN pact to tide her through. - Mkini