Umno man claims PAS not going all out in Mahkota

Puad Zarkashi says Perikatan Nasional seems aimless in the run-up to Saturday’s by-election.

(FMT) – An Umno leader claims that PAS is not going all out in campaigning for Perikatan Nasional’s candidate in the Mahkota state by-election.

In a dig at Bersatu, Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said it appeared that only PN’s by-election director, Azmin Ali, was diligently campaigning for the coalition.

Even then, he said, PN seemed aimless in its campaign and could not play up economic issues.

“PAS is clearly staying away (from the campaign). And Azmin is struggling to look for issues (to play up).

“This is the first time that PN’s campaign has no direction. Even Annuar Musa has become PAS’s spokesman in praising the Johor state government,” he said in a Facebook post.

During the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election in May, think tank Ilham Centre said PAS was noticeably muted in campaigning for the Bersatu candidate and did not fully mobilise its machinery.

Puad said PN can only hope that Barisan Nasional does not win the by-election with a greater majority than during the 2022 state election, where the late Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain won with a 5,166-vote majority.

“What PN fears the most is that Mahkota becomes Tanjung Piai 2.0. Only this time, it’s Bersatu and PAS’s turn to split,” he added.

He was referring to the November 2019 Tanjung Piai by-election, which saw BN’s Wee Jeck Seng wresting the Johor parliamentary seat from Bersatu in a six-cornered fight with a 15,086-vote majority.

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin previously said the party’s heavy defeat in the by-election reflected that it was losing support from the Malays.

This drove Bersatu to leave Pakatan Harapan, contributing to the collapse of the PH government in February 2020.