KUALA LUMPUR: PKR said it will not contest the Sept 25 Pengkalan Kubor by-election, paving the way for its ally, PAS, to field its candidate for the state seat.

PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the party was prepared to step aside in solidarity with the Islamist party, despite having contested the seat in the past two general elections.

“To face Umno/Barisan Nasional effectively, the bond and consensus in Pakatan Rakyat must be defended so that we are united in fighting Umno/Barisan Nasional. I believe this can only be achieved through compromising, understanding and magnanimity.

“Because of that, Keadilan has decided to give way for the PAS candidate to contest the Pengkalan Kubor by-election, taking into account the compromise, understanding and magnanimity,” she said in a statement yesterday.

The Pengkalan Kubor by-election is being called following the death of BN incumbent Datuk Noor Zahidi Omar due to cancer.

In the 13th general election, Noor Zahidi won the seat in a three-cornered fight against PKR’s Saharun Ibrahim and independent candidate Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary, with a 1,736 vote majority.

In 1999 polls, PAS contested the seat and won, but lost the seat in 2004. — by Anisah Shukry/The Malaysian Insider


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 10, 2014.