GEORGE TOWN, May 10 ― PAS is not fielding a candidate for the Bukit Gelugor by-election, deputy president Mohamed Sabu said today following claims that one of its members plans to contest the May 25 poll.
The Islamist party’s number two disavowed links to the rumoured entry, as he expressed PAS’s full support for Pakatan Rakyat ally DAP during the launch of the latter party’s operations centre for the by-election today.
“If there is a purported PAS member who submits his nomination form on Monday, he will not be contesting under PAS because PAS only has one candidate for the by-election and that candidate is the DAP candidate Ramkarpal Singh Deo,” he said.
He was responding to a press conference by PAS member Mohd Nabi Bux Mohd Abd Sathar, 63, who yesterday expressed hope to contest the parliamentary seat under a party ticket.
Mohd Nabi collected the nomination form from the Election Commission yesterday and told a press conference that he planned to contest as a way to make “Islam’s rise in Penang”.
Today, Mohamed, who is popularly known as Mat Sabu, told the press that he is not even sure if Mohd Nabi was a PAS member.
“We will have to check and we will have a meeting to discuss this, and if he is a member, we will discuss the actions to be taken against him if he submits the nomination form on Monday,” he said.
The Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat fell vacant after its holder, the late Karpal Singh, was killed in a car crash last month.
DAP this afternoon announced Ramkarpal Singh Deo, Karpal’s third son, as its choice for the contest.
MCA is yet to confirm its entry or name its candidate, but is expected to do so later.
Besides Mohd Nabi, others have also voiced plans to join the race as independents.
Karpal first won the seat traditionally held by MCA in Election 2004, before going on to win by 21,015 votes in 2008 and 42,706 votes in 2013 against MCA.
PAS and DAP’s ties have been strained in recent months following the Islamist party’s latest bid to enforce hudud, the Islamic penal code, in Kelantan.
