PORT DICKSON, Oct 12 — The PAS view of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim being ineligible to contest the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election cannot be regarded as defiance against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Muhammad V, said PAS secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan.
He said PAS does not deny the full pardon granted by Sultan Muhammad V to Anwar under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution but sees the Election Commission (EC) failing to interpret the eligibility of the PKR president-elect to contest the by-election.
“I believe the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has acted in accordance with the law under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution. The question is whether Anwar received a free pardon under Article 48 of the Federal Constitution?
“PAS is voicing its objection over this legal issue to the EC. If the EC cannot provide a clear interpretation (of Anwar’s eligibility to contest under Article 48 of the Federal Constitution), then the EC should refer the matter to the courts before the by-election. I feel the EC is not playing its role properly,” he said here today.
Takiyuddin spoke at a press conference at the PAS command in Telok Kemang near here. Also present were PAS vice-presidents Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad and Idris Ahmad and the PAS candidate for the by-election, Lt Col (Rtd) Mohd Nazari Mokhtar.
PKR strategic communications director Fahmi Fadzil had reportedly said that the PAS relentless questioning of Anwar’s eligibility as a by-election candidate by stating that he had not received a full pardon is in defiance of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
PAS is questioning Anwar’s eligibility to contest the by-election, saying the Pakatan Harapan candidate has only received a full pardon under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution and not a free pardon under Article 48 (1) (e), which gives him the eligibility to contest any election.
Meanwhile, commenting on the survey of the Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE) which forecast 74 per cent of the voters favouring Anwar in the seven-cornered contest, Takiyuddin said the outcome was questionable.
“What IDE has done can be questioned. This is more or less like what Invoke had said previously, that PAS will lose badly in the 14th general election. Invoke is a sister entity of IDE; it does not reflect a convincing survey,” he said.
Besides Anwar and Mohd Nazari, the other contestants of the by-election are five independent candidates including former Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad and Anwar’s former personal aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Forty-three per cent of the voters in the Port Dickson constituency are Malay, 33 per cent Chinese, 22 per cent Indian and two per cent others. — Bernama
