PAS makes clean sweep in Kelantan and Terengganu

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang attending Perikatan Nasional's election result viewing party in the grand ballroom at Glenmarie Golf & Country Resort, Subang on Nov 19. - SHAARI CHEMAT /The Star

KUALA TERENGGANU: PAS has made a clean sweep in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Going by the official and some unofficial results as at midnight, the Islamist party has secured all parliamentary seats in both states.

It showed that Barisan Nasional’s strategy of fielding former PAS members as their candidates and dropping their incumbent Barisan leaders had backfired.

Gua Musang incumbent and 12-term MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was defeated with a slim 163-vote by Perikatan Nasional candidate Mohd Azizi Abu Naim.

Tengku Razaleigh, better known as Ku Li, garnered 21,663 votes while PAS contender Mohd Azizi Abu Naim obtained 21,826 votes.

Former Terengganu mentri besar and state Barisan chief Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Said also suffered a blow, losing to Perikatan candidate Che Alias Hamid by a 27,179-vote majority.

Kelantan Barisan chairman Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub also fell to Bersatu youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, who secured 35,603 votes.

In Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, PAS candidate Datuk Dr Alias Razak defeated four other candidates, including the incumbent Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, who contested under a Barisan ticket as a “direct candidate”.

Alias received a total of 56,697 votes while Khairuddin received 26,932 votes.

Khairuddin, a former Plantation Industries and Commodities minister, left PAS in March after a fallout with the Islamist party for dropping him from its central committee in January.

In Tumpat, Kelantan, another former PAS member who contested under Barisan’s banner, Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi, was also falling behind his PAS rival Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi, who obtained 65,426 votes.

Che Abdullah, better known as Che Lah, received 30,633 votes.

Che Abdullah, who won the seat with a majority of 17,500 votes in the previous general election, contested in Tumpat under Barisan as a direct candidate after he was dropped from PAS. This led to his dismissal from PAS.

As for Marzuani Ardila Ariffin, the Barisan candidate who contested the Kelantan seat of Ketereh previously held by her boss, Tan Sri Annuar Musa, she was also trailing on the scoreboard.

PAS’ Mejar-Jeneral (Rtd) Datuk Khlir Mohd Nor won by 40,542 votes; Marzuani obtained 17,435 votes.

At press time, only Dungun and Setiu in Terengganu were yet to be officially announced.