KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — PAS Kuala Kangsar candidate Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad said her party will be focusing on regaining non-Malay voters’ support in the by-election following its exit from the Pakatan alliance.

She said with PAS offshoot Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), now a part of the current Pakatan Harapan with DAP and PKR and running for the same seat, it would be challenging to gain the non-Malay vote, Utusan Malaysia reported today.

“All this while, in previous elections, we got the Chinese votes because PAS was part of the opposition alliance,” she was quoted as saying by the Malay language daily.

“However this time, PAS is no longer with them. So, PAS will use all our machinery including the PAS Supporters' Congress (DHPP) to meet with the Chinese voters.”

She added that being able to speak in Mandarin however, would give her a boost in approaching the Chinese communities.

She also said Kuala Kangsar voters were used to voting in women representatives, and felt her gender could be an advantage.

“Which means, I see that Kuala Kangsar is only deciding between either PAS or Barisan Nasional. I don’t see Amanah as a big threat,” she said.

The federal Kuala Kangsar by-election in Perak will see a four-way fight with Najihatussalehah going up against BN’s Mastura Mohd Yazid, Amanah's Ahmad Termizi Ramli and, independent Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary.

The parliamentary constituency is made up of 32,949 voters, comprising 22,496 Malays, 7,757 Chinese, 2,287 Indians, 330 Orang Asli, 16 Sarawak Bumiputera and 13 Sabah Bumiputera.