PAS to retain K'tan, reclaim T'gganu: Hadi

PAS is ready to take on the Barisan Nasional coalition in the general election and believe it could triumph in both Kelantan and Terengganu, its president Abdul Hadi Awang said.
According to him, the party’s election machinery at the state level is in place and he believed the chances of winning look bright in its traditional stronghold of Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah.
“In Kedah, the Malay votes we had (in the last elections) were more than those in Kelantan but the non-Malay voters were prevented from voting for us,” Abdul Hadi told Malaysiakini on his first visit to the online daily’s office in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
He also believed that the party will fare better this time around in states such as Perak, Pahang and Selangor.
However, when asked to predict how many seats PAS would win, he quipped: “If you are talking about the elections in England, I can predict. Malaysiakini can also predict....”
PAS suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2004 general election when its parliamentary representation slashed from 27 seats to seven.
It also lost control of Terengganu and only managed to cling on to Kelantan with a one-seat majority.
Heavyweight to stand against PM
The PAS president argued that his party would be able to win more seats should there be no underhanded tactics used by its bitter rival such as restricting media coverage and abuse of government machinery.
He referred to the extraordinary increased in the number of new voters as well as the abnormally high turnout in Terengganu and Kelantan in the 2004 polls, which he claimed to be the "dirtiest ever".
Asked on PAS’ previous statement that it might consider boycotting the general elections to press for electoral reforms, Abdul Hadi said the party has dropped the idea.
“Boycotting an election is only an effective way (to press for reforms) in a developed country. In Malaysia, it will only make it easy for them (the ruling party to have a walkover),” he replied.
On seat negotiations with its opposition ally PKR, Abdul Hadi said it was smooth and talks had completed for Pahang while it was 80-90 percent done in most of the other states.
He also pledged to field more women candidates in the forthcoming general election but when asked on fielding non-Muslim candidates, he replied, “We will work with PKR in terms of fielding non-Muslim candidates.”
On another note, Abdul Hadi said the party was considering fielding a more prominent individual in Kepala Batas against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the next elections.
However, he refused to reveal any possible candidate but merely quipped that “the price should be higher” in contesting against the prime minister.
Malaysiakini understands that there were discussions within PAS to field a senior leader to stand against Abdullah in the next elections in order to test the real popularity of the prime minister.
The candidate is likely to be an incumbent state representative.
Asked on his own plan in the next general election, Abdul Hadi was tightlipped as to whether he will seek to retain his current Rhu Rendang state seat in Terengganu.
“I will leave it to PAS Terengganu to decide,” the former Terengganu menteri besar said, adding that the party state chief Mustafa Ali will lead the campaign there.
Thumbs-up for young turks
Asked to comment on the current leadership in PAS, he said it has a healthy combination of ulama (religious scholars) and professionals.
The professionals, or young turks, led by deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa were returned to power for the second time in the recent party election despite a strong challenge from the ulama faction.
On the leadership of the young turks, Abdul Hadi said: “I see the party is more advanced and more stable now.”
Abdul Hadi, who will turns 60 in October, brushed aside the question of retirement when asked.
“In politics, there is never the question of retirement. As long as people support you, you stay on,” he said, admitting that he has not thought about the question so far.
On a lighter note, Abdul Hadi - who went for his regular check up at the National Heart Institute after visiting Malaysiakini yesterday - said he swims for two hours regularly.
Other party officials present yesterday were Abdul Hadi’s press secretary Roslan Shahir, Chinese media liaison officer Hu Pang Chaw, Kelantan-based senator Mumtaz Md Nawi , who is a practicing lawyer, and PAS central working committee member Dr Lo’ Lo’ Ghazali.

tunku : another big joke from a joker ulama. pas will reclaim terengganu?u must be insane hadi, make survey in trengganu, you will know how the hate you and pas especially after you ruled it for 1 term(thank god).the next GE will see pas struggling to win kelantan so don't talk big that you will capture other state. it will be another humiliating defeat for pas this time around.if you are brave enough why don't you stand against the pm in kepala batas(kalau jantanlah).