MIRI: PAS may be making party history since its formation 62 years ago by fielding for the first time, an Iban candidate to contest a parliamentary seat in Sarawak.
Sarawak PAS commissioner Adam Ahid confirmed that the party had shorlisted potential candidates and one of them would be an Iban contesting the Bumiputera-majority Sibuti parliamentary seat, here.
It is understood that the likely candidate is a professional working in Kuala Lumpur.
“The party’s decision to field an Iban candidate is based on the voter trend in the state election last year. We saw that we got the support of Iban voters,” he told Bernama yesterday.
For example, he said, when PAS contested the Beting Maro state seat last year, a large number of Iban voters there voted for the Pas candidate.
He said by fielding an Iban candidate, it would show that the party was for all races and this would enable the party to make an inroad into Sarawak politics.
“For the coming general election, Sarawak PAS plans to contest six or seven parliamentary seats in the state,” he said.
In the last state election, PAS contested five seats, namely Tanjung Datu, Muara Tuang, Sadong Jaya, Sebuyau and Beting Maro but lost all to Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates.
In the 2008 general election, PAS created history when the party fielded an Indian candidate, Kumutha Raman, to contest the Ulu Tiram state seat in Johor.
Kumutha became the first non-Muslim woman to be fielded as candidate since the party was formed in 1951. — Bernama