GEORGE TOWN: Gerakan president Dominic Lau is denying that he was asked to leave a PAS ceramah in Sungai Dua.
An online portal had reported that Lau was asked to leave the ceramah in Sungai Dua on Tuesday (Aug 1) night as he had shown up without being invited.
Lau said while it was true that Gerakan was not invited to attend the ceramah, he was definitely not asked to leave.
"I was there to see PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang but as the event ran late, I could not speak to him and left.
"He (Abdul Hadi) asked to meet at 9pm, before the Sungai Dua ceramah started, but he ran late and was there around 10.30pm.
"As the ceramah had begun I could not speak with him," he said when contacted on Wednesday (Aug 2).
Lau said as the ceramah was on the mainland and he was contesting on the island, he needed to head back for a meeting.
"When we left the ceramah, it was almost 11pm," he said.
Lau said while he did not have the time to meet Abdul Hadi, he has since spoken to him.
"It is untrue that I was at any point asked to leave," he said.
Lau is contesting in the Bayan Lepas state seat under a Perikatan ticket against incumbent Lepas assemblyman Azrul Mahathir Aziz from Pakatan Harapan.
It was reported that the PAS grassroots were threatening to boycott the polls after Lau was named to contest in the Malay-majority Bayan Lepas state seat.
Local PAS leaders said the party had been doing the groundwork there for years and would not accept Lau, whom they claim was a "parachute" candidate.
However, Lau was seen being supported by Perikatan Nasional secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin who turned up to show his support during nomination day on July 29.
