KUCHING, June 2: Sarawak PAS aims to take at least one seat in the next state election.
Its information chief Mohammad Afiq said since 2013, the party had been able penetrate quite well into Malay areas with invitations even coming from the villagers themselves.
“The last few weeks in Sibuti, we even managed to hold programmes in the community halls and surau which we were unable to do so before,” said Mohammad Afiq at a media conference held at a restaurant here today.
He admitted that Sarawak PAS’s main focus will be the state election. In the previous state elections, it contested 11 seats.
Though the party did not manage to capture any seats, it is confident that it will make advances due to the increasing number of votes in areas they contested previously.
For the next state election, the party will focus on selected seats to ensure better performance.
Mohammad Afiq said in the May 9 general election (GE14), the party contested in five state parliamentary seats — Petra Jaya, Samarahan, Sibuti, Batang Sadong and Batang Lupar.
Though the party failed to capture a single seat, it sees the total of 10,500 votes it garnered for these five seats as an achievement.
“For GE14, BN (Barisan Nasional) took 19 seats; PH (Pakatan Harapan), 10 seats and independents, 2 seats. It showed that Sarawak is ready for change,” said Mohammad Afiq.
Meanwhile, Sarawak PAS youth chief Arifiriazal Paijo said the party will act as the opposition in Sarawak and will continue to highlight the needs of Sarawak to the federal government.
The party will also continue to fight for the rights of Sarawak such as for 20 per cent oil and gas royalties and in areas of education, welfare and infrastructure where Sarawak has been neglected by the federal government.
Also present were Sarawak PAS deputy chairman Zulkifli Ramzi and PAS Malaysia youth deputy secretary Hadi Amat.
