Although the Penanti by-election is around the corner, the Permatang Pauh PAS division has decided to freeze its election machinery instead of getting ready for the polls.

The Penanti state-seat falls under the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency.

Previously Permatang Pauh PAS had indicated that it wanted to contest in the by-election and its decision now to put its election machinery on a ‘rest-mode' would surely prompt speculations that all is not well in Penanti.

However the division's head Omar Hassan denied that it was boycotting the by-election which will be contested by PKR's Mansor Othman.

pas pkr banner being placed 140208 "This is not a boycott against PKR but instead to allow us to focus on strengthening the party in Permatang Pauh," he told Malaysiakini .

He said that the decision was made unanimously at a division meeting last night and would be in place until further decision made by the division.

He also said the decision did not mean that the party would not be helping PKR for the by-election.

Omar said that his division had always helped PKR in canvassing during election campaigns, noting that it was also on hand to help PKR for the Bukit Selambau by-election earlier this month.

"We still have 25 days for the nomination and for the campaign to start. We will wait for further instructions from our division leadership," he said.

Nomination for the by-election is on May 23 while polling will be done on May 31. The seat became vacant following the resignation of PKR's Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin on April 16.

It is still uncertain as to who Mansor will be facing in the by-election. Umno will only decide on Monday if it wants to contest in the by-election. Several others have also expressed interest to contest as independents.

Division still wants its own candidate

Omar also said that the division still wanted to put its own candidate for the by-election, as approved by the Permatang Pauh party members during a meeting on April 19.

"We are still sticking to the resolution passed at the meeting (for us to contest in Penanti) as that was the wish of the grassroots," he said.

penanti state seat penang 200409 It was also learnt that the Permatang Pauh PAS division has indicated its interest to party president Abdul Hadi Awang.

When asked if they had received any feedback from the top party leadership on the matter, Omar said:

"As far as we know, our president will give his answer through the state leadership," he said.

However he said he has not heard anything so far from the state leadership on that matter.

It is highly unlikely that the PAS leadership would approve of the division's request to contest in the by-election since the seat belonged to its all PKR.

Furthermore PKR also has a strong presence in Permatang Pauh, whose member of parliament is PKR's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the leader of the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat. Penang is ruled by the Pakatan coalition.

Omar also remarked that PKR had its own strong election machinery in Permatang Pauh and would not need any help from his division to retain the seat.

"Their machinery is the strongest in Permatang Pauh," he said without elaborating.

He also brushed aside any worries of facing any disciplinary action from the party leadership.

"We have not considered that yet... we are just listening to what out supporters on the ground want," he said. PAS has some 3,000 members in Penanti.