The decision by the PAS leadership not to contest the election court’s decision to nullify its victory in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary election confirms the existence of bribery and vote buying in the constituency, said Nurul Izzah Anwar.
Speaking at a Malaysia Madani roadshow at Bukit Selambau, Kedah, during the weekend, the former Permatang Pauh MP said while Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) were unable to defend several of their stronghold seats during the 15th General Election (GE15), Perikatan Nasional (PN) attributed their victory to several reasons.
“(During the last GE), it was not only Permatang Pauh…we were also unable to defend Merbok and Kepala Batas. They gave plenty of theories (as to why they won), reasons A, B, and C but today, PAS’ leadership failed to defend their loss in court.
“The election court’s decision to nullify Pas’ victory in Kuala Terengganu only proves that corruption and vote buying did happen. This is why they won the seat,” she said.
On June 27, the Terengganu Election Court nullified the victory of Ahmad Amzad Hashim, who represented PAS in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat during GE15 following allegations of vote-buying.
Judge Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril said that the petitioner – Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Mohd Zubir Embong – succeeded in proving that corruption had taken place, intending to influence voters in GE15.
According to state Umno chief Ahmad Said, among the points raised in the petition were allegations that PAS had bribed voters by distributing financial aid from the state government, through the i-Pencen, i-Belia and i-Siswa initiatives, between November 15 and 17, 2022, which was just a few days before GE15.
Ahmad Amzad won the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat in GE15 with a majority of 40,907 votes, defeating three other challengers, including Mohd Zubir.