ARAU-PAS MP Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim is not on the party’s list of candidates for the upcoming state elections (PRN), and this could shut off all rumours of the latter being a ‘shock’ candidate in Selangor.PAS Selangor also stated there have not been any discussions about allowing Shahidan to run as a candidate for PAS in the richest state in Malaysia.Moreover, PAS Selangor communications secretary Roslan Shahir Mohd Shahir said PAS had also made a short list of possible candidates in the state.“So far, the candidates shortlisted by PAS Selangor are only among the natives of this state. There is no discussion to place Shahidan.“However, at the central level we do not know if there is a proposal to put him as a candidate in any state assembly seat for the upcoming PRN,” Utusan Malaysia reported him as saying.Shahidan last week expressed his willingness to contest in the upcoming state elections if asked to do so by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) top leadership.The 71-year-old politician’s statement comes amid rumours that he would be contesting as a PN candidate in the Semenyih constituency in Selangor.PAS is campaigning very hard on social media, telling followers it will take over the state in the next PRN.Furthermore, it said the state is rich but the “rakyat” of Selangor is poor, which can be derogatory since this is not the case as the people in Selangor would say.Nevertheless, analysts have also weighed in on the potential of having Shahidan as a candidate in Selangor. They say the announcement of his being a PAS candidate did not ruffle any feathers in the state.They also think he will not bring more votes for the PN or the PAS in Selangor. — April 30, 2023
Main photo credit: The Star
