Monday February 25, 2008

Ibrahim Ali: I’m not beholden to any party

KOTA BARU: Former Umno strongman Datuk Ibrahim Ali will contest on a PAS ticket against Barisan Nasional's Ahmad Rosdi Mahmad for the Pasir Mas parliamentary seat where he had served for many terms.

Ibrahim has won the seat in previous elections under the Umno and Parti Melayu Semangat 46 ticket.

But he told reporters at the nomination centre yesterday that he would not join the Islamist party.

“I am fed up with joining political parties,” said Ibrahim, who is renowned for party hopping.

He said his role if he was elected to Parliament would be to debate policy, adding that he would criticise anybody, including PAS, if they did something he did not agree with.

“I am that sort of person. I get along with people from PAS and Umno. I am aggressive and loud because that's my style. If you are not aggressive and you don’t shout, then you won’t get what you want,” he said, adding that PAS leaders must have done some research for them to allow him to stand on their ticket.

Ibrahim reiterated that he was taking on Barisan because he was angry that he had been removed as the Pasir Mas Umno chief after the last redelineation exercise.

Ahmad Rosdi is a Barisan “replacement” candidate for the seat. Initially he was to stand in the Chetok state seat but on Saturday, he was moved to the Pasir Mas seat when the coalition’s first choice, Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman, the royal comptroller of the Kelantan palace, chose not to stand.

Abdul Halim said that as a civil servant, he had to be neutral. On why he chose not to resign as palace comptroller and contest the seat, Abdul Halim said he “sayang” (loved) the post too much to leave it.

Abdul Halim was also the returning officer for the Pengkalan Pasir by-election.

The three state seats in the Pasir Mas constituency will also see some dramatic fights.

For the Pengkalan Pasir seat, it will be a repeat battle of the 2005 by-election where Barisan’s Hanafi Mamat will meet PAS’ Hanifa Ahmad. In the 2005 by-election, Hanafi beat Hanifa. In the 2004 election, Hanafi lost to PAS' Wan Ab Aziz Wan Jaafar by 56 votes.

For the Tendong seat, BN incumbent Mohd Fauzi Muhammad will take on his second cousin from PAS Dr Muhammad Md Daud while for the Chetok seat Barisan's Datuk Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman will face Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman, the incumbent.

Election

Monday February 25, 2008

Ibrahim Ali: I’m not beholden to any party