PORT DICKSON: Winning five state seats in Negri Sembilan is a good start for Perikatan Nasional, says state PAS Commissioner Rafiei Mustapha.
Rafiei said this is an achievement on its own, given how the coalition failed to win any parliamentary seats there during the 15th General Election.
He added that PAS did not win any state seats in Negri Sembilan during the previous state polls.
“This is a good start for Perikatan in Negri Sembilan. We have made inroads from zero seats; we now have five. This allows us representation in the state assembly,” he told a press conference at the Perikatan command centre here late Saturday (Aug 12) night.
Rafiei then said that the five seats gave Perikatan solid ground to stand on in the state.
“Now, we can manoeuvre more efficiently,” he added.
During the Negri stage polls, Perikatan won five seats - Serting, Gemas, Bagan Pinang, Paroi and Labu.
Rafiei added that Perikatan only lost by small margins in seats like Lenggeng and Sungai Lui and said that this also shows that the coalition is making inroads in the state.
“I believe this will continue to push our candidates to do better,” he said.
Separately, Rafiei said Perikatan's wresting of the Paroi seat from Pakatan Harapan showed that voters there are still loyal to PAS.
“We won there previously. The incumbent later joined Amanah but now the seat is back with us.
This means the PAS supporters there have not changed their stance,” he said.
On Perikatan snatching the Barisan stronghold of Bagan Pinang, Rafiei said this was also seen during the results of the 15th General Election (GE15) in November last year.
“Our candidate (for GE15) also won the streams there,” he said.
During the Negri state polls, Perikatan’s Kamarul Ridzoan won the Paroi seat with a 5,539 majority, beating Pakatan candidate Norwani Ahmat.
In a closely watched battle for Bagan Pinang, Barisan’s Mohd Najib Mohd Isa lost to Perikatan’s Abdul Fatah Zakaria by 3,426 votes.
Mohd Najib garnered 7,495 while Perikatan’s Abdul Fatah received 10,921 votes; he is the son of former Negri Mentri Besar Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad.
