Umno all out to woo PAS for Sungai Kandis by-election

SHAH ALAM: Selangor Umno chief Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaacob said his party will go all out to form a working relationship with PAS to ensure Barisan Nasional's win in the Sungai Kandis by-election.
The recently elected Umno vice-president stressed that cooperating with the Islamic party is one of the ways to ensure Umno wins over the hearts of Sungai Kandis' constituents, the majority of whom are Malay Muslims.
Even though the PAS leadership has yet to voice its stand on this, PAS secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan has instructed party members to vote on the interests of Islam or Malays as well as the nation's future.
Umno is expected to meet with PAS either on Wednesday or Thursday to finalise their potential working relationship for this by-election.
Meanwhile, PKR's Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni today claimed that Mohd Yusof Abdullah, PAS' candidate for the seat in the 14th general election, has pledged to support him in the upcoming by-election.
"Mohd Yusof told me openly that he will render his support to me.
"On top of that, he also informed me that he will ask his family members and close associates to vote for me in the upcoming by-election," Mohd Zawawi said during a press conference at PKR's Sungai Kandis by-election operation centre today.
The tahfiz school principal said this when asked to comment on the rebuttal by former Meru assemblyman Abd Rani Osman to Mohd Zawawi's statement on Monday that the 7,000 hardcore PAS supporters will vote for him in the polls.
Mohd Zawawi is going up against Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam and independent candidate K. Murthy.
The Sungai Kandis state seat fell vacant following the death of its assemblyman PKR's Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei on July 2 due to lymphatic cancer.
In the 14th General Election, Mat Shuhaimi retained the seat (formerly known as Sri Muda) for the third term by polling 23,998 votes to beat Datuk Kamaruzzaman Johari of BN (11,518 votes), Mohd
Yusof Abdullah of PAS (7,573) and Hanafiah Husin of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (76).