KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 – Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) top leadership will decide if the Kuala Besut by-election should be boycotted or contested, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu said today.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was reported by The Star Online yesterday as saying that PAS should boycott the by-election in Terengganu to protest the Election Commission’s (EC) “dirty tactics” in Election 2013.
“We are going to discuss in the coming Pakatan meeting and will make a decision,” Mohamad, popularly known as Mat Sabu, told The Malay Mail Online today.
PAS central working committee member Khalid Samad, however, dismissed the DAP’s boycott suggestion.
“No boycott. Lawan tetap lawan (keep on fighting),” Khalid told The Malay Mail Online today.
Lim had reportedly said yesterday that the DAP would propose the boycott at PR’s next supreme council meeting.
The Bagan MP was quoted as saying that the boycott was suggested because of EC’s “lack of explanation and dubious tactics” on the indelible ink used in the May 5 polls.
The general election was marred with widespread reports of the indelible ink – which is meant to prevent double voting – being washed off easily with soap and water.
The Kuala Besut state seat in Terengganu fell vacant after Barisan Nasional (BN) representative Dr A. Rahman Mokhtar died on Wednesday from lung cancer, triggering a by-election that will decide the fate of the east coast state.
The BN and PR currently hold 16 and 15 seats respectively in the 32-seat state legislative assembly in Terengganu.
If PAS wins the Kuala Besut by-election, Terengganu will have the country’s first hung assembly in history. The Islamist party ruled Terengganu for one term from 1999 to 2004.
