PAS Masih Yakin Dapat Gantungkan DUN Terengganu

Timbalan Menteri Pendidikan, Idris Jusoh mengesyorkan PAS untuk tidak bertanding di Kuala Besut dengan menyebut BN bukan menang dengan 300 undi di kerusi itu. BN memenangi 2,434 undi.

Idris Jusoh berkata demikian dengan keyakinan bahawa DUN Kuala Besut berada di dalam Parlimen yang dimenangi olehnya sendiri.

Sementara itu Husam Musa dengan yakin menyebut tidak mustahil PAS mampu memenangi kerusi tersebut.

Jika PAS menang, kerusi DUN Terengganu akan menjadi 16 BN dan 16 Pakatan Rakyat dan menjadikan kerajaan Terengganu tergantung.

Memenangkan sesebuah pilihanraya untuk merencatkan pentadbiran negeri yang sedang berjalan? Lalu huru hara politik mengambil tempat? Nampak seperti tindakan tidak bijak.

Berikut petikan FMT berhubung dua situasi tersebut.

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no need for PAS-Pakatan Rakyat to contest the Kuala Besut state seat as Barisan Nasional (BN) won the seat with a handsome majority in the general election, said Second Education Minister Idris Jusoh. “It’s not like we won the state by 300 votes. We won with a majority of 2,434 votes. So better to leave it be and let BN get the seat. At least, we can reduce politicking after the general election,” Idris said. The Kuala Besut state seat falls under the Besut parliamentary constituency which is held by Idris. It is a traditional Umno stronghold. The seat fell vacant when its representative, Abdul Rahman Mokhtar, of Umno, died of cancer last month. His death left the Terengganu state assembly in a limbo as BN is left with 16 seats and Pakatan holding 15 out of the total 32. If Pakatan wins in Kuala Besut, the state government may come to a halt due to a hung assembly. Idris, who is also a former Terengganu menteri besar, said Pakatan should respect the holy month of Ramadan by allowing BN to win the state seat uncontested. He said it would not be easy for Pakatan to convince Kuala Besut electorate to vote against BN, saying he knew the people there well. “I’m the Umno division chief in the area. Pakatan will have had a better chance if they won the seat with a 1,200 majority. “But right now the opposition does not even have a candidate there,” said Idris. In the event of a contest, the Umno leader urged Kuala Besut voters to back the BN candidate with a minimum 4,000-vote majority. Yesterday, Idris urged teachers in Kuala Besut to vote for BN, saying they “owed” the ruling government their loyalty. “There is no reason why teachers should turn their back on the government,” he said. Both Umno and PAS are expected to name their candidates tomorrow night. The nomination day is on July 12 while polling is on July 24.

KUALA LUMPUR: The fight for the Kuala Besut seat will be a tough one, PAS’s by-election director Husam Musa admitted today, but he stressed that PAS would not be giving in despite the odds stacked against them. “BN won the seat with a rather large majority in the general election…we know the by-election is a heavy responsibility because the government machinery is on BN’s side,” the PAS vice president said somberly at a press conference today following a Pakatan Rakyat leadership council meeting. But he said the Kuala Besut locals would require a leader close to them and could understand their needs, and he believed PAS’s candidate could fill that void. “So the seat won’t necessarily be impossible for Pakatan to win. We still have a shot at winning,” said Musa, who had contested for the Putrajaya parliamentary seat in the general election, but lost to Tengku Adnan Mansor. He added that should a PAS candidate win in Kuala Besut, the whole of Terengganu would benefit as the party intended to come up with a “comprehensive agenda”. “Terengganu produces petroleum, yet the people of Kuala Besut are among the poorest in the country because they are not given equal economic benefits. “That is why the chance to improve the effectiveness of their petroleum production now lies in the hands of the Kuala Besut locals,” said Husam.