Confusion abounds over the 'deal' between Umno and PAS to forego their election petitions in Terengganu and Kelantan. PAS vice-president Mustafa Ali today also fails to shed any light on the mystery by claiming ignorance over the matter.

"As far as I know, there are no deals between leaders from PAS and BN in Terengganu and we are leaving it in the hands of the courts," he said when contacted.

Yesterday, Prime Minister and Umno chief Abdullah Ahmad Badawi declined to comment on the issue.

On Monday, an exclusive report by malaysiakini stated that both parties had reached a 'gentleman's agreement' not to pursue their respective election petitions in both these states except for the Pasir Puteh parliamentary seat.

On Wednesday the Kota Bahru high court struck out nine election petitions filed by both BN and PAS challenging the outcome of seven state seats and two parliamentary seats in Kelantan.

However, the court awarded the Pasir Puteh seat to BN because the Election Commission official had announced the wrong candidate as the winner on polling night. This was not disputed by PAS.

The Terengganu election court is due to hear the eight election petitions submitted by PAS and one by BN on July 4.

Misquoted

Meanwhile, PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub claimed that he was misquoted by a Malay online daily pertaining to the issue.

"The press will have their own interpretation of the things that are said. I am fully aware of that and accept it." he said, chosing his words carefully.

"However, I merely suggested to the press that perhaps after the petitions were submitted to the court, the lawyers from both parties saw certain weaknesses in the case and like any legals proceedings, sometimes there are out of court settlements.

"I made these statements as a politician making political deductions and assumptions," added the MP for Kubang Kerian.

In a report today, AgendaDaily quoted Salahuddin as confirming that both Umno and PAS have agreed to forego their election petitions.

On the possible outcome for the election petitions in Terengganu, the PAS leader predicted that the court would strike them out.

In the March 21 polls, BN staged a major upset by re-capturing Terengganu from PAS and almost clinching the opposition party's bastion state, Kelantan.

With the election petitions struck out, PAS will continue to rule Kelantan for another term with its wafer-thin three seat majority.