A resident passes by a row of BN and PAS flags at the Dato’ Ibrahim road in Rompin. — Bernama photo
ROMPIN: PAS’ campaign in the Rompin by-election is seen to be focusing more towards issues relating to Felda and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rather than explaining about the implementation of hudud law championed by the party.
According to political analyst Assoc Prof Dr Ahmad Marthada Mohamed, the issue of the implementation of hudud laws could affect support for PAS, in particular from non-Muslim voters if it was brought into the election campaign.
He said PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s difference in view with DAP and PKR leaders on the matter could sway non-Muslim voters against the PAS candidate.
Furthermore, the hudud issue could even disrupt the support of non-Muslim voters who had previously voted for candidates in the spirit of the opposition pact, said the Dean of the College of Law, Government and International Studies at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM).
The Rompin parliamentary constituency has a total of 53,294 registered voters including 1,352 Chinese voters, 621 Indians and others such as Orang Asli (4,541 people).
“The issue of hudud can divide the support of DAP and PKR voters against PAS because their leaders are no longer united,” he told Bernama here yesterday.
Ahmad Marthada said the hudud issue would also not have a major impact on Malay and Barisan Nasional (BN) voters.
Assoc Prof Datuk Dr Samsu Adabi Mamat also expects PAS not to touch on the implementation of hudud laws because it was not an issue that could shake the BN stronghold.
“They will be using more of the current issues that are happening and can pull people support such as GST and 1MDB,” said the lecturer of the School of History, Politics & Strategic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
Meanwhile, Pahang PAS deputy commissioner Nasrudin Hassan did not deny that the party was more focused on national issues such as GST and Felda.
He said PAS would only include the hudud issue if there were voting areas that required explanation on it.
“If the hudud issue needs to be clarified, we will use two methods, a detailed explanation to Muslim voters and another kind of explanation for non-Muslim voters,” he told Bernama.
Nasrudin said that in Felda areas, PAS would not only focus on the issues related to Felda alone, but would also clarify hudud issue because there were many who did not understand, and that there was a misunderstanding on the issue.
“For the Rompin campaign roadshow, we will take a skilled speaker and ustaz who are experts on hudud laws to target areas.
“Besides that, we will also issue brochures that give more information about hudud and national issues such as the GST,” he said.
The Rompin by-election next Tuesday will be a straight fight between BN candidate Datuk Hasan Arifin and PAS’s Nazri Ahmad to fill the vacancy following the death of incumbent Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis in a helicopter crash at Semenyih, Selangor on April 4. — Bernama