PAS is to announce on Friday its candidates for the two by-elections to be held on June 18.

PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad said today discussions were ongoing on the candidates as the party had to seek the views of several individuals before making a decision.

Nominations for the by-elections, in Sungai Besar, Selangor, and Kuala Kangsar, Perak, are on June 5.

“The two seats were traditionally contested by PAS and the party’s decision to field candidates there should not be questioned,” Idris told reporters at the lobby of Parliament House.

Asked about a report that PAS was the cause of the postponement of a Pakatan Harapan meeting on the by-elections, he said the party had nothing to do with what was happening in the opposition coalition.

“Why must they blame us for not being able to arrive at a consensus? That is a wrong assumption,” said the MP for Bukit Gantang. Pakatan Harapan comprises DAP, PKR and Amanah.

The by-elections have been necessitated by the deaths of Kuala Kangsar MP Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad and Sungai Besar MP Noriah Kasnon in a helicopter crash in Sarawak on May 5.

- Bernama