“Deceptive”: UMNO man slams PAS’s “excuses” of not dissolving state assemblies

“Deceptive”: UMNO man slams PAS’s “excuses” of not dissolving state assemblies





AN UMNO man has dismissed PAS’s excuses for not dissolving the legislative assemblies of the three states under its rule – Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu – as a mere ploy to “pull wool over the rakyat’s eyes”.

Kuala Terengganu UMNO chief Datuk Wan Hisham Wan Salleh was referring to PAS vice president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man’s announcement last week that the PAS-led states will not dissolve their legislative assemblies simultaneously with Parliament if a general election is held soon.

“Their excuse of wanting to focus on economic recovery and flood disaster management is simply a ploy to pull wool over the people’s eyes,” Wan Hisham said in a statement today.

“The flood factor is used with the so-called intention of showing that only PAS is sensitive and concerned about the plight of the people.”

According to Wan Hisham, PAS as a political party would no doubt partake in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15) as they, too, were competing for parliamentary seats.

“Will [PAS] mobilise their election machinery to get ready for GE15 or will they simply just field candidates [at random] because they are ‘busy’ making preparations for the monsoon season?” he questioned.

“It sounds impossible that they would field their candidates without mobilising their election machinery to the maximum.”

Wan Hisham further noted that the Election Commission (EC) would have to spend more money if the legislative assemblies of the three PAS-led states were not dissolved by the time GE15 is held.

“If PAS is truly sincere about wanting to restore the country’s economy to pre-COVID-19 levels, holding separate state polls is not the answer as this would only burden the Government’s coffers,” he remarked.

In a statement yesterday PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang had expressed his disappointment over the “hasty” dissolution of the Parliament just four years and five months following the 14th general election (GE14).

The party’s final decision on whether to dissolve the legislative assemblies of the three PAS-led states will be determined after the party’s central committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur today.

In a special address yesterday (Oct 10) caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the dissolution of Parliament, thus paving the way for elections to be held within 60 days. – Oct 11, 2022