PAS has decided not to appeal the High Court’s decision to nullify the party’s general election (GE) victory in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency, said its secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan.

Despite the court’s decision against PAS, which secured the seat with a huge majority, Takiyuddin said Perikatan Nasional (PN) is ready to face the by-election instead of appealing the judgment.

“In the case of Kuala Terengganu, we will not appeal. We are ready to face another election,” Takiyuddin was quoted saying by Harakah Daily.

PAS’ Ahmad Amzad Hashim won the Kuala Terengganu seat last year by 40,907 votes.

Last week, the Kuala Terengganu High Court declared the victory null and void upon detecting corrupt practices during campaigning.

Judge Mohd Firuz Jaffril said the petitioner, Barisan Nasional’s Mohd Zubir Embong, had proved beyond reasonable doubt there was bribery involved in the election campaign. 

Takiyuddin, who is Kota Baru MP, said PAS could have filed a petition to challenge Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s GE win in Bagan Datuk, but said they decided not to pursue the matter.

“If we wanted to dispute the results, we could have done it where the Umno president won by some 300 votes, but we didn’t file a petition.

“In Kuala Terengganu, we won by more than 30,000 votes and yet they are still not satisfied,” the former law minister said.

Zahid won the Bagan Datuk seat by a narrow 348-vote majority over Pakatan Harapan’s Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin. 

Takiyuddin alleged the unity government is using its machinery to paint top PN leaders as power abusers.

He said the unity government’s petition regarding several parliamentary constituencies in Kelantan, Terengganu and Malacca was an attempt to highlight irregularities in PN’s operations.

He said in the case involving PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin and PN secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin, the unity government was trying to portray them as having abused their positions when PN was in power.

Since the unity government was formed, several Bersatu leaders have been charged. – July 8, 2023.