KUALA LUMPUR: PAS may stay out of Kerdau state seat by-election in Pahang if the Election Commission (EC) decides to hold the polls simultaneously with Merlimau in Malacca.
The EC has fixed Feb 26 for nomination and March 6 for polling for the Merlimau state seat by-election.
It will not be a surprise if voting in Kerdau is held on the same day as Merlimau given that simultaneous polling had been conducted for Galas state seat in Kelantan and the Batu Sapi parliamentary seat in Sabah in November, last year.
PAS may not have the energy to take part in two simultaneous by-elections considering that the Islamist party was mauled by the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Tenang, Johor, only three weeks ago.
In fact, the party was toying with the idea of staying away from Merlimau but changed its mind when PKR asked PAS to stand in for the unregistered alliance of Pakatan Rakyat.
The party has yet to recover from its “injuries” sustained in Tenang and now it has to fight the BN again in Merlimau. Many of its members feel the party is in no position to enter the Kerdau fray in its current worn-out state.
It is not so much the physical endurance that the party is afraid of but the psychological effect another defeat would inflict on its members.
Repeated defeats will bring down morale and erode confidence no matter how strong and united the party is.
And if the EC decides to hold Merlimau and Kerdau polls at the same time, PAS will obviously face logistical problems besides the financial burden.
Awkward position
Then there is this row over Valentine’s Day, with its Youth wing advocating “moral policing” to curb vices it deems is associated with the celebration. But some leaders have distanced themselves from this conservative stance to be in tune with their allies DAP and PKR.
The fortune of PAS is at its lowest ebb, so contesting the Kerdau state seat, which is also a BN traditional bastion, will further expose its weaknesses which in turn will put the party in an “awkward” position in Pakatan.
So far, PKR has been the weakest link in the alliance but if PAS continues to be defeated in a series of by-elections, the party may find itself taking PKR’s place.
PAS saw its support plummet in Felda settlements in Tenang while the hoped-for Chinese votes also evaporated when the community returned to the BN fold.
In Merlimau, PAS is not expected to make any headway in garnering Malay votes since the late state assemblyman, Mohd Hidhir Abu Hassan, had done a good job in servicing the community.
As for the Chinese votes, PAS is relying on DAP to deliver them but the Chinese vote bank will not help the party to win, not even reducing the BN majority.
With Merlimau a “write-off”, PAS will surely not want Kerdau to be another “stinging slap on its face” that will undermine its image not only within its own ranks but also with the public at large.
Thus, PAS members who are wise and are not in the decision-making body have whispered “let PKR take Kerdau”.
