Ex-rep says PAS progressives first discussed breakaway in Simpang Jeram
MUAR: The history of Amanah begins in Simpang Jeram where it was first formed, says Dr Sheikh Ibrahim Salleh (pic), a former Sungai Abong (now known as Simpang Jeram) assemblyman.
He said the group of former PAS leaders known as the G18 had their first meeting in Simpang Jeram eight years ago.
“I invited the G18 to Simpang Jeram on June 16, 2015. It was then that the idea for the formation of a party that was more progressive was first discussed.
“At night on the same day, we held the ‘Jasamu dikenang’ (Your deeds will be remembered) programme in the Sungai Abong PAS headquarters to show our appreciation to the 18 leaders who had been kicked out of PAS.
“This is the actual birthplace of Amanah. The seed of the party was first sown here,” he told The Star.
The G18 refers to the 18 former PAS leaders who left the party and initiated the Gerakan Harapan Baru movement, which later became Amanah.
Dr Sheikh Ibrahim, along with Dr Mohamad Taslim, were the first individuals from PAS who managed to win state seats in an election in Johor.
“The first seat PAS ever held in Johor was the Senggarang seat in the 2004 general election, but it won due to technical issues after the Barisan Nasional candidate was disqualified.
“In the 2008 general election, I won the Sungai Abong seat while Dr Mohamad won the Maharani seat, making it the first two seats the party ever won in Johor,” he said.
Dr Sheikh Ibrahim served as the Sungai Abong assemblyman for two terms from 2008 until 2018 as a PAS member before retiring from politics.
That same year in 2018, he came out of retirement and joined Amanah and is now the party’s election director for the Simpang Jeram by-election.
Asked if his influence as a former assemblyman in the area would encourage voters to support Amanah’s candidate Nazri Abdul Rahman, he said it may have some effect.
In GE14 in 2018, the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, who is one of the founders of Amanah, managed to seize the seat from his former party with a 7,687 majority. PAS had fielded Dr Mohd Mazri Yahya in the four-cornered fight then.
Dr Mohd Mazri is also the PAS candidate for the upcoming by-election here, which PAS is describing as the best opportunity for the party to retake the seat.
Johor PAS commissioner Abdullah Husin said PAS first won the seat in the 2008 general election.
“Previously, Simpang Jeram was known as Sungai Abong and PAS won it with Dr Sheikh Ibrahim Salleh being elected as the wakil rakyat (people’s representative) there.
“The voters then elected Dr Sheikh Ibrahim again in the 2013 general election, and this shows PAS is not a stranger to the people of Simpang Jeram,” he said when contacted here on Friday.
Abdullah added that PAS, however, lost the Simpang Jeram seat to Amanah in GE14, and was unsuccessful in wresting it back from Amanah when Salahuddin won it again in the Johor state election in March 2022.
“However, it was a four-cornered fight in Simpang Jeram then, and we were able to reduce Salahuddin’s majority to 2,399.
“If the Simpang Jeram by-election is a straight fight between Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan, PAS has a big chance of winning back the seat,” he added.
Abdullah also said that with the Simpang Jeram constituency having more than 50% Malay voters, including a high number of youth, PAS is confident heading into the by-election, and more so as the party had won it before.
“With the momentum that Perikatan has gained from the six state elections, we can continue with the wave heading into the Simpang Jeram by-election,” he said.
