The PAS Youth wing is not taking leaving anything to chance in the Pengkalan Pasir by-election in Kelantan, as it gears up to face possible rivals.

Youth leader Salahuddin Ayub said the challenge presented both by Umno and Independent candidate Ibrahim Ali are real and cannot be taken lightly.

"The results of the last general election are very significant (indicators) for the upcoming by-election. We cannot take anything for granted, and it's quite certain that we in PAS Youth will need to redouble our efforts to secure Pengkalan Pasir," he said when contacted.

The Pengkalan Pasir state seat fell vacant following the death of PAS assemblyperson Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Jaafar on Oct 31. Elections have been fixed for Dec 6, with nominations to be held on Nov 27.

Wan Abdul Aziz, who died of liver cancer, was one of 24 PAS state assemblypersons in Kelantan who won in the 2004 general election. However, he defeated Umno's Hanafi Mamat by a mere 56 votes.

Ibrahim, Umno's former strongman in the Pasir Mas division until he was sacked from the party in 2004, presents a formidable challenge for PAS, conceded Salahuddin.

Ibrahim is a veteran politician with a significant following in Pasir Mas "whose influence, as far as politics is concerned, cannot be denied".

Once a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Ibrahim said his decision to contest was prompted by requests from Pengkalan Pasir voters for an elected representative who would see to their needs.

3,000 to be marshalled

Although Salahuddin would not disclose the campaign strategy, a significant focus would be placed on younger voters in the constituency of 18,411 eligible voters.

For this, PAS youth will marshal and address an estimated 3,000 of the wing's youth members on Friday at the Pasir Mas mini-stadium as part of the process of activating the election machinery.

He said the party is looking closely at what youth want, and would have to think through the best way of approaching them, he said.

Among the trump cards, said Salahuddin, will be "to expose Umno's failure to balance physical or material advancement with spiritual development".

"Although the federal government has touted human development, we will take stock of the moral decline in our society, especially among the youth," he said.

At the same time, PAS will keep a close eye on the campaigning and electoral processes to ensure that pro-Umno propaganda in the mass media, money politics and the use of 'phantom voters' are detected and exposed as early as possible.