Nik Abduh's GE15 absence a boon to Kelantan BN's - state chief

GE15 | The absence of Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz as a Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate for the 15th general election (GE15) will benefit the state’s BN chapter, the latter's chief Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub said.

According to him, this is because PAS supporters who are ardent supporters of Nik Abduh’s father, the late Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, will vote for Umno in the coming polls.

“Some PAS supporters told the Kelantan BN machinery that they are willing to support us.

“A lot of them are ardent supporters of the late Nik Aziz, and their change in direction could be due to his son’s absence in this election; as if PAS wants to erase the legacy of the former Kelantan menteri besar,” Jazlan (above) told a press conference in Kota Bharu today.

Nik Abduh, who is the former PAS Youth chief, was once seen as someone with a bright future in PAS. In 2017, he garnered the highest number of votes to seal a spot in the party's central committee.

However, he was defeated in the PAS leadership election in November last year but was reappointed to the party’s working committee headed by president Abdul Hadi Awang.

It is believed that the “rejection” was due to Nik Abduh’s stance of being favourable towards PAS cooperating with Umno.

Following Nik Abduh’s exemption from the PAS-PN candidates’ list for GE15, there were rumours that he may defend his Bachok seat under the BN ticket.

However, Nik Abduh later explained that he decided to not contest GE15 on his own accord.

‘Working hard’

PAS has named Syahir Sulaiman, who is Hadi’s political secretary, as PN’s candidate for the Bachok parliamentary seat.

In the 14th general election, Nik Abduh won the seat by 3,292 votes in a three-way contest against BN's Awang Adek Hussin and PKR's Mohd Zulkifli Zakaria.

Meanwhile, Jazlan said that Kelantan BN had the right momentum to face GE15 and was confident of winning nine out of the 14 parliamentary seats in the state.

“We are identifying two other parliamentary seats which could be in BN’s favour, and we are working hard (to reach the goal),” he said.

In the 2018 election, BN managed to win five parliamentary seats in Kelantan, namely Machang, Ketereh, Jeli, Tanah Merah, and Gua Musang.

The coalition, however, later lost two of the seats after its incumbents for Jeli and Tanah Merah, Mustapa Mohamed and Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz respectively, quit Umno to join Bersatu, which is now part of PN.

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