Pakatan to give way to BN candidate in Tioman state seat, says Hatta

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan will give way to the Barisan Nasional candidate in the Tioman state seat, says Datuk Mohd Hatta Md Ramli (pic).

The Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) secretary-general said as a component member of the Pakatan coalition, the move was made in the spirit of the newly formed state government in Pahang, which sees cooperation between the Pakatan and Barisan coalitions.

"In order to ensure a win for the candidate representing this unity government, the Pakatan election machinery will move together in every Barisan campaign,” he said in a statement Tuesday (Nov 29).

Mohd Hatta explained that such a move was needed at a time when racial flames were being fanned by certain quarters in the elections.

“Amanah views the state election in Tioman as a clash between the new Pahang state government and racial and religious extremists, which needs to be dealt with seriously," he noted.

The election for Tioman was suspended following the death of Perikatan Nasional candidate Md Yunus Ramli.

Md Yunus was in a five-cornered fight with Barisan’s incumbent assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Hussain, Pakatan’s Mohd Fadzli, Pejuang’s Osman Bakar and Independent candidate Sulaiman Bakar.

Early voting will be on Dec 3 and polling day is on Dec 7.