PAS expects its support to go up following the latest decision by a United Kingdom court in a defamation suit against whistleblower website Sarawak Report, said a top leader.

The decision, which the party claimed had favoured its president Abdul Hadi Awang, would help it win back lost support from members and sympathisers, said party deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

He said Sarawak Report’s allegations in 2016 that PAS received RM90 million from its traditional nemesis Umno has hurt its image among supporters and those who voted for it in the 2013 general election.

“There are members and supporters who were confused and unsure of PAS as a result of these claims. So this decision will make the picture clear for them,” Tuan Ibrahim told reporters in Marang, Terengganu.

Yesterday, Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown was ordered to pay £41,400 (RM22,000) to Hadi after the latter won all five interlocutory applications.

The decision, however, is not on the suit itself, which claimed that Sarawak Report had defamed Hadi through the publication of the RM90 million allegations.

The trial for the suit is expected to be held between April 1 to April 10 next year.

PAS is campaigning against Umno and the Barisan Nasional coalition it leads. It also faces candidates from rival opposition pact Pakatan Harapan in GE14.

Analysts, however, have given the party slim chances of victory in the 158 parliamentary seats it is contesting as surveys showed that only about 11% to 13% of voters would support the party. – May 1, 2018.