PAS has dismissed speculations suggesting that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad might be their candidate for the upcoming Kemaman by-election.
PAS vice president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar clarified that the party has not yet discussed potential candidates for the parliamentary seat.
“No discussions so far and we have actually not yet sat down among the top leadership about our preparations for the by-election, especially on deciding a candidate. We don’t even have a date to discuss (the candidate) yet, maybe next week I will go to Kuala Lumpur,” news portal Utusan Malaysia quoted him as saying.
An earlier report claimed that a source close to Dr Mahathir said PAS may field the nonagenarian as its candidate for Kemaman but Samsuri debunked these claims. He also mentioned that there were no plans to select a candidate from Bersatu, highlighting that Kemaman had traditionally been an Islamist party stronghold.
The party is contemplating the possibility of having the incumbent Che Alias Hamid, who won the Kemaman parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15) with a substantial majority of 27,179 votes, contest the seat again.
However, the Election Court nullified the GE15 Kemaman results on Sept 26 due to alleged corruption during the electoral campaign.
Furthermore, Dr Mahathir was recently appointed as the unofficial adviser to the four Perikatan Nasional-led states, a role unrelated to his potential candidature in the Kemaman by-election. – Oct 4, 2023
Main photo credit: Kosmo
