VIDEO l 1.18 mins

SELANGOR

PAS has finally backed down from contesting the Kota Damansara state seat after almost a week of posturing and negotiations with PKR and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

"After negotiations, I am announcing that for the Kota Damansara state seat, we shall revert to the status quo as before nomination day.

pas mustafa ali 070413 01 “The seat is allocated to PKR," said PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali ( left ) at party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

As such, he said, the candidate contesting under the PKR banner for the state seat under the Subang parliamentary constituency will be the official Pakatan Rakyat representative.

Incumbent rep PSM chief Mohd Nasir Hashim ( below ) had earlier reached an agreement to vie for the seat under the PKR ticket, until PAS sprang a last minute surprise by fielding its own candidate Razali Ismail on nomination day.

As in other seats it has conceded to PKR, the PAS candidate will be instructed to stand down and publicly declare that he is withdrawing from the contest, while the party’s machinery will be told to campaign for the specified Pakatan candidate, said Mustafa.

NONE Asked on the possibility of resistance from the fielded PAS candidates and machinery to the stand-down orders, Mustafa dismissed such concerns.

Kota Damansara was one of seven seats that saw PAS and PKR at loggerheads, with both fielding their respective candidates on nominations day last week.

The six other seats were settled early this week, with PAS giving the Labuan parliamentary and Panti (Johor) and Sungai Acheh (Penang) state seats to its ally.

In exchange PKR gave PAS the Seberang Takir, Bukit Besi and Kota Putera state seats in Terengganu.

Kota Damansara was not resolved at the time because PAS claimed ideological differences with PSM was the stumbling block.