State polls: Claims Negri will fall to PN a desperate bid by PAS to woo voters, says state Pakatan info chief

SEREMBAN: A claim by PAS that Negri Sembilan will fall to Perikatan Nasional in the state polls on Saturday (Aug 12) has been described as a last minute and desperate attempt to woo voters, says state Pakatan Harapan information chief Abd Latif A Tambi.

Describing it as propaganda, he said PAS’ claim, which was based on a large turnout at a ceramah in Bandar Senawang, was not supported by facts.

“How can a large turnout alone at the event be translated into an impending win when this is not supported by data, statistics and other probabilities?

“On the contrary, we at Pakatan are truly confident that a unity government will be formed in Negri Sembilan tomorrow and we have facts to support this,” he said.

Abd Latif said DAP’s win in the 11 constituencies the party is contesting is guaranteed as these were “very safe” seats.

He said as such, Pakatan will need to win only another eight seats from the remaining 25.

This, he said, was achievable with Umno contesting in 17 seats, PKR in six and Amanah, two.

“We can actually win more than eight based on our combined strength,” he said.

In a post on social media, PAS had claimed that Perikatan is set to win in Negri Sembilan following increasing support from the people.

It claimed the high turnout during the ceramah in Bandar Senawang was proof of this.

Abd Latif claimed Perikatan’s failure to place “candidates who can win” in the polls was another factor it would not be able to match the Pakatan-Barisan pact.

In the 2018’s 14th General Election, Pakatan won 20 seats and the remaining 16 went to Barisan.

“Also, Perikatan’s decision to place PAS candidates instead of those from Bersatu and vice versa to contest against Umno or Pakatan in certain seats didn’t make sense,” he said.

He claimed PAS did not have leaders who could back up their arguments with facts and research and this was evident in the outcome of the debate between PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli and PAS’ Bachok MP Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman on Wednesday (Aug 9).

Mohd Syahir, who is the PAS assistant secretary-general, had likened himself to a mouse deer (Sang Kancil) taking on an elephant in the debate with Rafizi.

He had said there was no level playing field in the debate as Rafizi was a minister and had many advantages as the Statistics Department of Malaysia was under him.