Langkawi: PAS fields candidate, while Ikatan withdraws

ALOR STAR: PAS will field its own candidate to contest in the Langkawi parliamentary seat for the 14th General Election (GE14), despite announcing that the island constituency would be contested by its component member, Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan).
Kedah PAS commissioner, Dr Ahmad Fakhruddin Syeikh Fakhrurazi, said the party will field its Langkawi division chief Zubir Ahmad to face Datuk Nawawi Ahmad, the Langkawi Umno chief, and Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said this was after the Ikatan leadership decided to withdraw from contesting the seat.
"After much deliberation, we respect their decision when they said they are not ready to contest in Langkawi, so in filling up the gap, we decided to put our own candidate to contest in the parliamentary seat," he told reporters during a press conference at the Kedah PAS Complex in Kota Sarang Semut, here today.
The decision means that the Islamist party will be contesting in all 15 parliamentary and 36 state seats in Kedah.
It was heavily speculated that Ikatan would field its president, Tan Sri Abdul Kadir bin Sheikh Fadzir, against Mahathir and Nawawi.
Party insiders however said that Abdul Kadir would not contest out of respect for his former boss.
Abdul Kadir was a former MP for seven terms and held cabinet positions under Mahathir and former premier Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Zubir, a seafood entrepreneur in Langkawi, expressed confidence in winning support from the locals.
"He (Tun Mahathir) is a well respected leader, but I think his presence this time against BN will split the votes and this will benefit us," he said.
On another development, Ahmad Fakhruddin also announced that Mohammad Ismail, the party's candidate for Jerai, will be replaced by Mohd Sabri Azid, the Jerai PAS division deputy chief.
He said the withdrawal was caused by some technical issues on his candidacy but refused to elaborate further.