KUALA LUMPUR – Penang PAS leaders have rubbished a banner that went viral on social media, which claims that the state chapter opposes Abidin Ismail as its candidate for the Sg Bakap by-election.
Earlier today, a photo of a banner that said “PAS Pulau Pinang Tolak Calon Abang Abidin. Kami Mahu Iszuree Ibrahim” (Penang PAS rejects candidate Abang Abidin. We want Iszuree Ibrahim) was posted on X by user @ybperpaduan. Iszuree is the Penang PAS secretary.
When contacted by Scoop, both Iszuree and state PAS chief Muhammad Fauzi Yusoff said the banner was a “psychological warfare” tactic deployed by the party’s rival to provoke them, with Iszuree accusing PKR of employing such a ploy.
“Both myself and Penang PAS supported the central PAS decision to nominate Abidin,” said Iszuree when contacted by Scoop.
“The ‘psywar’ banner says that Penang PAS rejects Abidin and wants Iszuree to contest. This is nonsensical (since) Penang PAS declared Abidin as the candidate.
“How is it that Penang PAS opposes the very candidate that it announced?”
Meanwhile, Fauzi said the banner was not made by party members. He also mentioned that the banner was not the only one deployed in Sg Bakap of its kind, stating that “all sorts of banners have been made”, without elaborating further.
The Sg Bakap poll will see a straight fight between Abidin and Pakatan Harapan’s Joohari Ariffin of PKR.
The by-election was prompted by the death of former assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff on May 24. – July 3, 2024