PAS will be filing its share of election petitions disputing fourteen seats in six states.
The party's special committee on the 13th general election petitions said eight of these will be filed next week.
"So far, six petitions excluding those from Terengganu have been confirmed," committee secretary Abang Ahmad Kerdee Abang Masagus (right) said, adding that it was still waiting for confirmation from Terengganu PAS to confirm number of cases in the state.
Abang Kerdee explained that the party had initially planned to file 20 such petitions, but this was revised following discussions.
Apart from Terengganu, the petitions involve seats in the Federal Territory, Perak, Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor.
Abang Kerdee pointed out that the petitions were being accompanied by strong proofs of electoral foul play.
Pakatan Rakyat has recently announced that its partners will be filing separately election petitions. It is understood that PKR will file 27 while three in the case of DAP.
The number of complaints against the Election Commission this time is unprecedented, with over 80 petitions said to be prepared by both sides of the political divide. This has led to calls on top EC duo Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof and his deputy Wan Ahmad Wan Omar to step down.
On its part, Barisan Nasional, despite urging PR to accept the general election results, will file over 50 petitions including 37 state seats.
The petitions must be filed at the High Court by June 11, some three weeks after the results were gazetted.
-HD
Friday, June 7, 2013
PAS ready to file election petitions
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Islamist party PAS emerged a major loser in the 13th general election, managing to grab only 21 out of 73 parliamentary seats it contested. In the 2008 polls it secured 23 parliament seats.
ReplyDeleteDespite its confidence, PAS also failed to win any seats in Sabah and Sarawak. Its coalition partners, made inroads securing 12 state and three parliamentary seats in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteIn Sarawak, both DAP and PKR secured six parliamentary seats, contributing to Pakatan Rakyat’s overall tally of 89. Sarawak had its state election in 2011 and even then PAS won no seats in contrast DAP and PKR secured 15.
ReplyDeleteIn Sunday’s general election not only did PAS bag the fewest seats in Pakatan, it was also the only opposition party to lose control of a state – Kedah. Its allies – PKR and DAP – managed to retain their respective holds on Selangor and Penang.
ReplyDeleteIn Kedah, BN clinched 21 of the 36 seats, wresting control of the state after it had been under PAS rule for five years.
ReplyDeleteAnalysts have said Kedah’s return to BN was more due to PAS’s incompetence than BN’s appeal.
In Selangor PAS’s insistence in contesting the Kota Damansara state seat forced a four-cornered fight with PKR, Barisan Nasional and an Independent.
In the end the BN candidate won with 16,387 votes to PKR’s 14,860 and PAS’s 7,312. Collectively PKR and PAS garnered 22,172 votes for the opposition, more than the BN candidate.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile in Pendang, BN crushed PAS’ deputy president Mohamad Sabu. He lost the seat by 2,380 votes. Also defeated were vice president Husam Musa. Husam lost his Putrajaya bid by 5,541 votes.
While there were victories for PAS in the 2013 general election, they were far and few.
Although many viewed PAS youth chief Nasrudin Hasan’s triumph over BN’s Saifuddin Abdullah in Temerloh as “an upset”, PAS’ win in Kelantan was expected.
ReplyDeleteBut not to be ignored are the inroads BN made in Kelantan. Although PAS won 32 of the 45 state seats, it was actually seven less than in 2008. BN meanwhile managed to wrest Kerteh and Tanah Merah.
Growing disenchantment
ReplyDeleteAll this points to growing disenchantment among Malays towards the Islamic party.
It also means that there is an urgent need for PAS to quickly decide where to go from here.
Since PAS officially allied itself to DAP after the 2008 general election, it has had to compromise its core stances – from an Islamic state to welfare state and from Hudud law to “no Hudud” as stated in the Pakatan manifesto.
This is in contrast to its rival, Umno, which has been free to carry out its Malay-first agenda without protest from allies MIC and MCA.
ReplyDeleteAnd Umno’s methods apparently work – at least among rural Malays, judging from Sunday’s general election results.
The fact is PAS’balancing act of trying to keep both its hardline and its moderate/non-Muslim supporters happy has failed miserably.
ReplyDeleteA random survey by FMT among PAS’core voter base – rural Malays – found that many viewed with suspicion its alliance to the “kafir” party DAP.
Others expressed their concern that the party was straying from its Islamist goals.
ReplyDeleteSupport for PAS’ current direction is as volatile within the party as it is without. Within the party, leaders contradict one another on the Allah issue and Hudud.
Factions exist between the “moderates” such as Dzulkefly Ahmad and Khalid Samad and “hardliners” such as spiritual advisor Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Haron Din.
Fundamentalist roots
ReplyDeleteSo PAS must decide now. Will it continue to ‘sacrifice’ its Islamic agenda at the cost of party members and Malays, or will it stick by its ideals and frighten away its non-Muslim/liberal supporters?
The answer is evident in the results of the recent general election.
The majority of those who voted for Pakatan cast their ballots out of a desire to see a regime change.
Each of the opposition party’s ideologies and even candidates came second to their desire to oust BN.
In which case even if PAS were to return to its fundamentalist roots, it is unlikely that the opposition vote will swing back to BN.
ReplyDeleteMCA, MIC and Gerakan were almost decimated in the polls despite the fear-mongering adverts which filled the mainstream media’s pages in the weeks before the May 5 general election.
And this is a testament to how regime change trumps the non-Muslim’s fear of the Islamic agenda.
ReplyDeleteMoving forward, PAS could reaffirm – or appear to reaffirm – its commitment to Islam and woo more rural Malay votes from BN for the 2014 GE and perhaps even help clinch the ‘elusive” simple majority for Pakatan.
PAS’ strength and appeal to its unique group of supporters has always been its Islamic agenda.
ReplyDeleteSacrificing this agenda, in the recent years, for the sake of Pakatan has given Umno fodder to destroy the coalition once again by banking on the rural Malay vote.
Sabah has the potential to become Malaysia’s economic powerhouse, says the Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) President, Datuk Seri Wong Khen Thau.
ReplyDeletethe state government policies, investment climate and business environment must be conducive, particularly for the investing community.
ReplyDeleteWong said the misconception that only the Klang Valley needed to be developed should be done away with and instead, due consideration given to the proposal to make Sabah a business hub for the Far East.
ReplyDeletethe state government to make the necessary changes or align some of the existing policies for Sabah to move forward, and thereby achieve the desired goal.
ReplyDeleteSabah has been urged to position itself to tap the growing investor interest in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region which has a combined population of 600 million people and gross domestic product (GDP) of about US$1.5 trillion.
ReplyDeleteSabah has to position itself in terms of what should be our niche areas so that we will be able to engage investors’ interest and thereby participate with us in the development in their investment in SEA.
ReplyDeleteSedia is a one-stop authority entrusted to drive the corridor.
ReplyDeleteMusa says Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) has reached RM114.045 billion from 2008 to September 30 this year, thanks to Kota Kinabalu’s good travel connectivity to most major cities,making it easy for investors to visit, while Sabah is also rich in natural resources.
ReplyDelete