S'WAK POLLS PAS will not be joining the BN ruling coalition in Sarawak, its Sarawak commissioner Jofri Jaraiee said today.

Instead, he said the Islamist party would be playing a check-and-balance role against BN in the state legislature, since the ruling coalition had clearly failed to protect the interests of the people.

“We would like to stress again that PAS will not be joining Sarawak BN. If we win, we will continue with our struggle,” he said at press conference in Miri.

“We hope the media can highlight this, because there are still people doubting us thinking that we will work with Sarawak BN. That is not the case,” he said.

Jofri is also the PAS candidate for Pujut, where he faces a four-cornered fight with BN direct candidate Hii King Chiong, DAP’s Alan Ting, and the incumbent assemblyperson Fong Pau Teck who is contesting as an independent.

Meanwhile, PAS’ Lambir candidate Mohammad Arifirazul Paijo told the same press conference that the party has already visited all localities in Pujut and Lambir.

Despite facing some obstacles, he said the reception its campaigners have received was far better compared to what they faced during the 13th general election three years ago.

PAS vice-president Iskandar Samad said that during the general election, there were places in the Sibuti parliamentary constituency (which includes Lambir) that the party could not penetrate.

“But Alhamdulilah, in this election, we even managed to organise a ceramah in villages that we previously considered to be a ‘black area’ for us. So this is a good development.

“It’s the same thing in other state constituencies. In Samariang, we managed to get excellent feedback. In Muara Tuang as well; previously we can only hold ceramah indoors, but this time people welcome and invite us to hold talks outside their houses.

“In Muara Tuang, it is reported that when (Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak) visited the area, the villagers themselves planted PAS flags all over the village. This is a positive development, and it is clear that Sarawakians accept PAS as one of the potentially dominant parties in the state,” he said.