PAS, Bersatu like siblings, says Gua Musang division chief

August 5, 2024

PAS, Bersatu like siblings, says Gua Musang division chief

GUA MUSANG: PAS says it is not “riding” on Bersatu’s strength or vice versa in Perikatan Nasional’s choice of Rizwadi Ismail as its candidate in the upcoming Nenggiri by-election.

Rizwadi, who was previously the Gua Musang PAS Youth chief, joined Bersatu two days before he was announced as PN’s candidate for the Aug 17 by-election.

Gua Musang PAS chief Azman Ahmad said the two PN components depend on each other like members of a family, and PN’s choice of Rizwadi resulted from the understanding they have.

“PAS and Bersatu are like siblings. The voters can accept that Rizwadi moved from PAS to be with Bersatu as PN’s candidate. Umno is the only one that cannot accept him,” he told FMT in response to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s criticism of Rizwadi’s candidacy in the by-election..

Earlier, Gua Musang PAS had expressed hope that Bersatu would make way for the party to contest the seat, citing concerns among voters about possible party-switching if a Bersatu candidate was fielded.

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Azman said former Bersatu assemblyman Azizi Abu Naim’s shift of support following his election victory had affected voters in the constituency.

He also said the exodus of 480 Bersatu members to Umno, led by former Gua Musang Bersatu deputy chief Che Ariffin Hussin, would not affect PN’s chances in the by-election.

And He said those who had left, including Che Ariffin, were “problematic” to begin with.

“He has not done much in his time as Gua Musang Bersatu deputy chief. In fact, many Umno members have also moved to PAS and Bersatu … it’s just that it has not been publicised,” he said.

The Nenggiri seat was declared vacant by the Kelantan assembly speaker following a notice from Bersatu that Azizi had ceased to be a member of the party.

BN had won the Nenggiri seat for four consecutive elections since 2004 before losing it to PN in last year’s state election, when Azizi defeated Umno’s Ab Aziz Yussof with a majority of 810 votes