PAS is not going up against Umno in the Sungai Kandis by election because the two parties are siblings.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the close relationship the Islamist party had with the Malay-based party was the reason why PAS was sitting out the by-election.

“They are brothers,” he said after attending the open house hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in Pandan Indah, today.

The Sungai Kandis by-election will see a three-cornered fight between Barisan Nasional’s Lokman Adam, PKR’s Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, who is a religious teacher, and independent candidate Murthy Krishnasamy, retired civil servant.

This is the first by-election following the general election on May 9.

In the general election, PKR’s Shuhaimie Shafiei polled 23,998 votes to win with a majority of 12,480 votes. BN’s Kamaruzzaman received 11,518 votes while PAS’ Mohd Yusof Abdullah had 7,573 votes. PSM’s Hanafiah Husin mustered only 76 of the 50,800 votes.

The seat fell vacant upon Shuhaimie’s death due to lymphoma on July 2. – July 21, 2018.