KUALA LUMPUR: Pas has made a surprise comeback in Terengganu after winning 22 seats in the 32-seat state assembly.
The party also managed to secure six parliamentary seats, leaving only two seats behind to its main rival, Barisan Nasional (BN).
The seats won included the Pas stronghold of Marang, where its president, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang gained victory with a majority of 21,954, beating BN candidate Mohamad Nor Endot and a new face from Amanah who contested under the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) symbol, Dr Zarawi Sulong.
Umno Supreme Council member, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who faced Pas’ Kemaman Yang Dipertua, Alias Abdul Hamid, was among those who suffered defeat.
Pas came into power in Terengganu in 1999, but BN managed to reclaim the state in 2004. The Islamic party also maintained its victory in Kelantan after winning 37 state seats.
The late Kelantan menteri besar, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s fourth son, Nik Abduh who contested in Bachok, gained a small majority of 3,292 against BN’s Datuk Awang Adek Hussin.
Pas Syura Council secretary, Datuk Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh, also won the hot seat, the Pasir Puteh parliamentary seat, but with only an over 1,000 majority against Kelantan Umno Religious Affairs Bureau chairman, Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki (30,947) and PKR’s (PPBM Kelantan Liaison Committee chairman) Datuk Kamaruddin Md Nor (4,896).
Kuala Krai which also saw a three-cornered fight between Pas, PKR and BN was also secured by Pas through its Kelantan State Assembly Deputy Speaker,Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman, with a nearly 8,000 majority.
BN on the other hand only managed to secure five parliamentary seats including Ketereh, Tanah Merah, Machang, and Gua Musang.
Pas also managed to improve its position in Kedah by winning 15 seats in the 36-seat state assembly and three parliamentary seats as well.
This included the Jerail parliamentary seat where Pas Jerai vice-chief, Md Sabri Azit, won with only a slim, over 500 majority against Umno’s Jamil Khir Baharom and PKR’s Akramsyah Sanusi, who is the son of the late Kedah menteri besar, Sanusi Junid.
Pas initially named Mohamad Ismail before replacing him with Sabri due to technical reasons. The two other parliamentary seats won by Pas in Kedah are Sik and Pendang.
Pas, which is leading a loose coalition involving Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS, Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia, Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia and Parti Cinta Malaysia, confidently contested in 160 parliamentary seats and 393 state seats in total in the 14th General Election (GE14). It is the highest number of seats ever contested by any party in the country.
In the 13th General Election (GE13) Pas only managed to win 21 parliamentary seats out of the 73 seats it contested, two seats less compared to the previous general election. At that time, Pas, not just failed to reclaim Terengganu, but also lost six state seats in Kelantan and only managed to win one parliamentary seat in Kedah. GE13 also saw several leading Pas figures losing their seats.
This included the late Datuk Dr Haron Din (Arau parliamentary seat) who was Pas’ spiritual leader, its deputy president, Mohamad Sabu (Pendang parliamentary seat), vice-president Salahuddin Ayub (Pulai parliamentary and Nusajaya state seats), vice-president Datuk Husam Musa (Putrajaya parliamentary seat) and it’s information chief, Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (Jengka state seat).
The 12th General Election in 2008 was considered the party’s biggest achievement after it won 23 parliamentary seats and 83 state seats.