KUALA TERENGGANU: PAS will allow Umno to contest in the upcoming Port Dickson by-election in the interest of increasing the chances of beating Pakatan Harapan (PH), says the party's ulama chief.
Datuk Mahfodz Mohamed said a straight fight will increase the chances of defeating PH, and it was for this reason that the party will make way for Umno to contest in the by-election.
“We (the ulama wing) had a meeting on Wednesday (Sept 12) and agreed to give way to Umno to contest the Port Dickson by-election,” he said.
He added that one-to-one fights against PH in future elections are the way forward for PAS and other opposition parties.
“Although it is not official, we have reached a consensus with other opposition parties. Not just Umno, but parties in Sabah and Sarawak as well.
“A one-to-one fight is better to defeat Pakatan,” said Mahfodz at a press conference after the launching of the muktamar (general assembly) for the PAS’ ulama wing Thursday (Sept 13).
He added that this mutual understanding was forged after the previous by-elections, which saw PAS giving way to Umno to contest in Sungai Kandis and MCA to contest in Balakong, while PAS was allowed to contest alone in Seri Setia.
The Port Dickson by-election was called after its incumbent Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdulah from PKR vacated his seat.
The move was to allow PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to contest the seat and enter Parliament, paving the way for him to be the future prime minister.
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