Selecting candidates who fulfil their promises and meet voters’ expectations will help PAS achieve its target of 80 parliamentary seats in the 16th general election (GE16), say the party’s grassroots.
PAS vice-president Nik Amar Abdullah yesterday said the Islamic party aims to win 80 seats in GE16, having exceeded its 40-seat target at GE15, when PAS won 43 out of the 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
Kuala Terengganu Ulama Council delegate Wan Faizol Wan Abbas said candidate quality was crucial to avoid voter disappointment and to ensure PAS’s image remains respected.
“Candidates representing PAS must ‘walk the talk’ and implement their manifestos. Even if it’s just something like promising to install an ATM, it must be fulfilled,” he told FMT.
Meanwhile, Tasek Gelugor delegate Zamadi Omar stressed that PAS must penetrate non-Malay majority constituencies to counter lingering negative perceptions of the party.
“The party machinery must be strengthened to convince new voters and those still having doubts. We must conquer PAS’s so-called ‘black areas’,” he said.
Lahad Datu Ulama Council delegate Tan Chin Khoon echoed Zamadi’s view, saying PAS leaders must break down prejudices among non-Muslims against the party to win in mixed constituencies.
“PAS’s non-Muslim supporters wing (DHPP) must play a bigger role in convincing non-Malays not to harbour negative assumptions about PAS.
“PAS must also hold more programmes with non-Malay NGOs, besides spreading the message of mature and prosperous politics,” he said.
Kinabatangan Muslimat delegate Nur Shahirah Salasain emphasised that PAS’s goal of winning 80 seats was not mere fantasy as she said the current political climate does not favour the government.
“PAS must be the alternative. This party is not in politics for self-enrichment. We have a clear objective in line with Islam, which is justice for all,” she said.
Bagan delegate Suhaila Yusof added that PAS’s ambition of returning to Putrajaya would only succeed if its machinery worked hard from the start and did not wait until the election season.
She stressed that the 80-seat target served as motivation for party members and described PAS as one of the cleanest parties, noting that none of its leaders had ever been charged with corruption.
