KUALA LUMPUR — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has accused Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar of seeking sympathy for PAS in the coming Ayer Kuning by-election with his claim of being under surveillance.
Zahid said the PAS leader’s allegation that the federal government was spying on him had been dismissed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
“The home minister has said no, so why is there a need to raise the matter.
“Maybe, he (Samsuri) wants to seek sympathy due to the Ayer Kuning (by-election),” NST reported Zahid saying in Kuantan, Pahang, today, where he launched the UCYP University’s Pahang Rail Academy.
The by-election for the Ayer Kuning state seat begins tomorrow with candidates’ nominations. Polling will be held on April 26.
PAS, Barisan Nasional and Parti Sosialis Malaysia have so far announced their candidates for the poll in Perak.
Samsuri, who is PAS vice-president and Kemaman MP, yesterday said he was under a “Travel Control Office/Order” (TCO) that caused him to be stopped at border checkpoints and to await approval for cross-border movement.
He accused the federal government of using the TCO as a political tool to gather information about political opponents, also claiming that his phone was tapped and his movements tracked.
However, Anwar earlier today said it was normal for VIPs, including himself, to be under TCOs.
Saifuddin, meanwhile, dismissed
Samsuri’s claims by saying that it was “normal procedure” for a security detail to be assigned to a head of a state government.
“There is no issue of spying because the police officers are already with him,” Saifuddin said in remarks to Free Malaysia Today.
The Home Minister also rejected Samsuri’s claim that his mobile phone was tapped, calling it “baseless”. – April 11, 2025