PAS: We are staying out of Sungai Kandis so BN can win

(FMT) – PAS has decided not to contest the Sungai Kandis by-election to ensure a straight fight between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) instead of splitting the votes for the opposition.

“To us, we want PH to lose in Sungai Kandis because we want to send a signal to the government to implement their May 9 election promises.

“There are 1,001 reasons to reject PH,” the Islamist party’s information chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi said in a post on Facebook.

Nasrudin also claimed that the PH government was racist and enabling Islam to be insulted.

Sungai Kandis seat fell vacant after PKR assemblyman Shuhaimi Shafie died early this month from cancer.

This is the first by-election for PH since it won the May 9 general election. Another by-election is also expected to be held for the Balakong state seat after assemblyman Eddie Ng died in a car crash recently.

PKR is fielding a new face, religious teacher Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, while Umno Supreme Council member Lokman Noor Adam is BN’s pick. Independent candidate, Murthy Krishnasamy, makes it a three-cornered fight.

Polling day is on Aug 4 and the Election Commission (EC) has announced that it would allow an extra 30 minutes voting time.