GE14 | There is a chance that Pakatan Harapan's Chempaka seat candidate Nik Omar Nik Abdul Aziz will be "opposed" by his mother Tuan Sabariah Tuan Ishak during the campaigning for this general election.

PAS supreme council member and Nik Omar's brother, Nik Abduh, said in a statement today that Tuan Sabariah will campaign for PAS in the Chempaka state seat and the Pengkalan Chepa parliamentary seat.

"Mother was initially supposed to campaign only in the Bachok parliamentary seat (where Nik Abduh is contesting) due to health factors which limit her mobility, and to strengthen her connections to the PAS machinery there and the people of Bachok.

"However, due to some 'disturbance' from within our family towards PAS in the Chempaka seat, she had decided to campaign there as well," said Nik Abduh.

The PAS candidate for the Chempaka seat is its incumbent Ahmad Fathan Mahmood.

Nik Omar's emergence at the Pengkalan Chepa nomination centre on nomination day last Saturday raised eyebrows, before his candidacy was confirmed for the seat under Amanah's ticket. Amanah is PAS' splinter party.

This especially after it was reported that a potential clash of brothers for their father's old Chempaka seat was averted after Nik Omar was moved to Bachok, and Nik Omar failed to get Tuan Sabariah's blessings to run for the seat.

Earlier, there was speculation that Nik Abduh, who is the incumbent Pasir Mas MP, might be moved to the Chempaka state seat, which his father, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, held for 20 years until his death in 2015.

Utusan Malaysia today quoted Nik Abduh saying that Tuan Sabariah will not issue statements regarding Nik Omar's move (to contest in Chempaka), as she has been saddened by the latest development, and needs a few days to recover from the "shot" she has sustained.

'Mother shot twice'

This is the second shot she has suffered, Nik Abduh explained, after one of her sons was put under the Internal Security Act under the premiership of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who now heads opposition coalition Harapan.

In 2001, Nik Adli was held under the act for alleged terrorist activities, primarily due to his membership in extremist group Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia.

“Mahathir and Ikram are now working hard to bring down the Islamic government in Kelantan under PAS,” he said, believed to be a reference to Nik Omar’s membership in Ikram Association Malaysia, an organisation closely associated with Amanah.

Nik Abduh also reminded his brother of the story of Abd Allah Ibn al-Zubayr's revolt against the second Islamic caliph, Yazid.

He recounted how Zubayr’s mother, Asma Abi Bakr, was in tears as he had to decide whether to give in to the Ummayads surrounding Mecca or fight to the death.

That is the role of the mother in politics and jihad, he said.

“Mothers are the towers in our lives. Don’t talk about the father if the mother is not by his side.

“Who are we without mothers? Just wasted semen tossed aside,” he said.