No need for Samsuri to give up MB post, says Hadi

 

PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar is the Perikatan Nasional candidate in the Kemaman by-election. He is also the menteri besar of Terengganu. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar need not give up his post as Terengganu menteri besar to contest the Kemaman parliamentary by-election, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said today.

Hadi said there was nothing wrong with Samsuri’s candidacy, adding that he was himself both an MP and a menteri besar in 1999. “It’s a norm in Malaysian politics,” Utusan Malaysia quoted him as saying.

Samsuri, who is a PAS vice-president, said the call for his resignation, made by Umno information chief Azalina Othman Said yesterday, was baseless. “Maybe she was stressed out and confused when she made it.”

Azalina, in challenging Samsuri to quit his post, said the constituents of Ru Redang, where Samsuri is the state assemblyman would lose out as he could not serve them if he won the by-election.

In rejecting her call, Hadi said two menteris besar and a chief minister of other states were also MPs. They are Amirudin Shari (Selangor), MP for Gombak; Aminuddin Harun (Negeri Sembilan), MP for Port Dickson; and Chow Kon Yeow (Penang), MP for Batu Kawan.

“This means there is no reason for him (Samsuri) to step down,” Hadi said.

Samsuri will face Barisan Nasional candidate Raja Affandi Raja Noor, a retired army general, in a straight fight in the Dec 2 by-election.

The by-election was called following an election court decision which annulled the victory of PAS candidate Che Alias Hamid in the November 2022 general election. The court held that the distribution of government aid to voters during the campaign period constituted election bribery. - FMT