PAS is not only confident of retaining its five state seats but to also bag more in this general election based on the support it has received.

amiruddin hamzah PAS Kedah leader Amiruddin Hamzah, who will be defending his Anak Bukit state seat in the March 8 polls, claimed voters of all races are behind them.

"We are getting encouraging support from the Chinese and Indian communities - they are asking us to hold programmes. We will get their votes.

breakdown of seats in kedah "Until now, the assessment reveals that our performance will be better than 2004. I don’t want to be overly optimistic but God willing, we will retain the seats and win more," he added.

Apart from Anak Bukit which Amiruddin won with a tissue-thin majority, the other four seats won by the Islamic-based opposition party in 2004 are Tokai, Belantek, Sungai Limau and Bukit Pinang.

Amiruddin said Toaki and Sungai Limau are PAS strongholds and the party will not have any difficulty in retaining the seats.

However, he said the party has to work harder in Bukit Pinang and Belantek because there is an increase in new voters, especially postal voters.

"Postal voting is not transparent, we cannot see it (the process) ... postal votes are BN’s lifeline," he added.

Positive developments

Amiruddin said there are also other factors which are seen as positive developments for the party.

"When the prime minister comes (to Kedah), followed by his deputy, this means that BN must have received some unsettling reports about the state," he added.

As for the other seats which PAS is hoping to bag, Amiruddin said they are Ayer Hitam, Kota Seputeh, Alor Mengkudu, Pengkalan Kundur, Kubang Rotan, Kuala Ketil and Bayu.

"We hope the performance of our opposition ally PKR will be better this time around. Looking at the trend, they seem to be in good shape," he added.

On the perception of certain quarters that the 2008 general election has the same kind of sentiments felt in 1999, Amiruddin replied:

"The difference is, in 1999 it was about a single individual (PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim). But this time around, a lot of people are affected because of the price hikes.

"So it covers the whole nation. Back then, it was about one individual who was wronged and so forth."

He pointed out that the issues now involve everyone, whether they are from PAS, PKR or Umno.

In view of this, the PAS leader said the party hopes to secure a bigger victory when the voters show their grouses via the ballot box.