KOTA BARU: The tussle for the state seat of Chempaka is fast turning into one of the most interesting battles in the 14th General Election (GE14).
The seat was a one-time Pas stronghold held by the late Kelantan menteri besar and Pas spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.
However, this time around, Pas has found itself in an awkward position of having to fight against the much revered Nik Aziz’s son - Nik Omar, who is contesting under the PKR ticket.
If that was not bad enough, now Nik Omar has found himself in an even worse situation after his mother suddenly decided to hit the campaign trail as well.
Datin Sabariah Tuan Ishak, however, would not be campaigning for her son but for the Pas candidate contesting against him.
This was revealed by her fifth son, Nik Abduh, in his Facebook posting.
Nik Abduh, who is himself contesting in GE14 for the Bachok parliamentary seat on a Pas ticket, said his mother would also campaign for him.
“Mother was initially only supposed to help my campaign in Bachok.
“However, since there has been some disturbance from my own family member towards the Pas campaign in Chempaka, she felt it was only right she helped the party there also,” he said.
Nik Abduh also expressed disappointment and asked for forgiveness from the Pas election machinery and everyone else in the state for the difficult situation the party had been placed in due to what had happened.
“My mother has to rest for a few days to nurse her broken heart. This is the second time she has been hurt like this after the first shot was fired when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad arrested one of her son under the Internal Security Act (ISA) 15-years ago,” he said, adding the same person (Dr Mahathir) and Ikram (Islamic non-governmental organisation) were now working hard to topple the Islamic government of Kelantan under Pas rule.
Nik Abduh also lamented that his brother (Nik Omar) had not returned to their mother’s house and advised him to refer to Islamic history on how parents should be treated.
It was reported that Nik Omar - who is Nik Aziz’s second son, had created shockwaves in Kelantan after he decided to contest on a PKR ticket for the seat.
He has since been sacked by Pas and would be in a three-cornered fight against Mohamed Fareez Noor Amran of Barisan Nasional (BN) and incumbent Ahmad Fathan Mahmood @ Mahamad of PAS.
Ahmad Fathan won the seat in a by-election which was held following the death of Nik Abdul Aziz in 2015.
Earlier today, Kelantan PAS secretary Datuk Che Abdullah Mat Nawi said Nik Omar’s decision would not have a huge impact on PAS as he did not have much influence on the people.
He said this was unlike Nik Abdul Aziz, who won the seat with a majority of 6,500 votes in the 13th general election in 2013.
“We are confident Chempaka will remain a PAS stronghold because we don’t see Nik Omar as influential as his late father and the Tok Guru (Nik Abdul Aziz) himself, prior to his death, warned anyone against messing with this (PAS-led state) government.
“So, anyone who do not heed the late Nik Aziz’s advice will not go far,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.