Multi-cornered fight in Sungai Besar by-election? No problem, Hadi says

KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — PAS will have no problems taking on PKR or Amanah in a multi-cornered fight for the Sungai Besar parliamentary by-election, its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said today.

He said other parties had the right to field their candidates, but noted that PAS has a strong base in the semi-urban constituency north of Selangor and that the party had also decided on a candidate.

“It is up to them,” Hadi told reporters outside the Dewan Rakyat here when asked about the potential three-cornered fight there.

“If we contest we don’t lose whether we win or lose.

“If we win, it’s a bonus, if we lose, we’ll get back our deposit. But BN (Barisan Nasional), if they lose it’s bad,” he added.

Malay Mail Online reported last week that PKR was eyeing the Sungai Besar seat and could potentially field a candidate there after negotiations with PAS broke down.

Traditionally, PAS is seen as the second biggest political party in Sungai Besar after Umno but the idea has been contested by PKR.

The party claimed it has made inroads after years of campaigning there. Hadi said PAS’s Syura Council, the party’s highest decision-making body, had already approved the leadership’s candidacy choice.

“The Syura Council has approved the candidacy..we have a really strong base there,” Hadi said.

Malay Mail Online reported last weekend that the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar parliamentary by-elections could result in three-way fight with BN and a fractured opposition front.

A PKR leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a three-cornered fight involving PKR, BN and PAS may take place in Sungai Besar, Selangor, while another similar three-way battle could occur in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, with Amanah, BN and PAS all throwing their hats in the ring.

The Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar seats fell vacant after the deaths of their respective MPs, Datuk Wan Muhammad Khairil Anuar Wan Ahmad and Datuk Noriah Kasnon, who were among six people killed in a helicopter crash in Sarawak last week.

The Election Commission announced last week that both the Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections will take place on June 18.

In Election 2013, Wan Muhammad Khairil won Kuala Kangsar with a majority of 1,082 votes, while Noriah retained Sungai Besar with a slim 399-vote majority.