PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has poured scorn on speculations that the country’s 13th general election will be held in September.
Abdul Hadi ( right ) said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak may be contemplating calling for election in September, during the Muslim haj season, to ensure his victory.
He said the ruling Umno party would find all ways and means to divert from the real issue of cleaning up the electoral roll before calling for the election.
“The real issue is to clean up the electoral roll but Umno does not want to do it. Najib is looking for opportunities as to how to ensure his victory, which includes calling for election during the haj season.
“Najib knows that PAS supporters, many of them, would be away on the haj during that time,” said the Marang MP.
Abdul Hadi said this at a press conference after attending the PAS Munajat and Himpunan Hijau ke Putrajaya event at the party’s Kedah headquarters in Kota Darul Aman today.
He was responding to a question on whether PAS would consider a dialogue with Umno to maintain Muslim unity.
‘PAS wants to defend Kedah’
Recently, The Star had speculated that the election would be held in early September as Najib’s diary was packed with commitments, including overseas visits.
The paper said that by July, it will already be the fasting month and the whole month of August will be taken up by the Hari Raya celebration.
The Star also speculated that the general election cannot be in late September as the haj season would have begun, ending only in October.
About 3,000 supporters turned up for the morning gathering, with more expected to be present at the party’s afternoon session and night ceramah at Stadium Kota Darul Aman in Alor Setar.
Asked why the party had chosen Kedah to kick off the gathering, Abdul Hadi said it was because PAS was prepared for the looming election.
“We chose Kedah as this is one of the states that we want to defend, among others. Also we have the most members here,” he said.
Asked whether the gathering was planned in Kedah because the state was not ‘stable’, Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak, who was at the press conference with Abdul Hadi, was quick to deny it.
“Kedah not stable? It is not true. That is your own analysis,” he told the journalist.
PAS to field Chinese supporter in Kedah
In a related development, PAS Supporters Congress chairperson Hu Pang Chow said its members were planning to take part in the coming polls.
Hu ( left ) said Azizan had offered the congress a state seat in Kedah, while discussions were under way for other seats in Perak, Selangor and Johor.
Hu said the congress was still discussing with the party to secure a parliamentary seat in Sarawak.
However, he said, it would be a challenge for the congress to win a seat in a Malay-majority area.
“The political reality is such that it will be difficult to win in Muslim-majority areas, even if we contest under PAS and if the candidate is a non-Muslim,” he said.
“So, in Kedah we are eyeing for a state seat with a Chinese or Thai majority,” Hu added.