PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has instructed party members and supporters to vote for Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates in constituencies not being contested by Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the Negeri Sembilan state election on Saturday.
He said the directive was part of an understanding between BN and PN, under which both coalitions would support each other’s candidates in their respective constituencies to avoid splitting votes.
“PAS members in BN seats must vote for BN and work for their campaign. Likewise, BN members should help in seats contested by PAS so that we can secure victory,” he said during the Ceramah Mega Birukan Seremban on Wednesday night.
According to Abdul Hadi, the strategy had previously been implemented in Johor, where PAS took a supporting role to allow BN to lead the coalition’s campaign, which eventually resulted in the formation of the state government.
“In Johor, people asked why PAS did not contest many seats. I said PAS was the goalkeeper. Even if the goalkeeper doesn’t score, the important thing is that the team wins,” he said.
He added that the strategy in Negeri Sembilan was different because PAS is contesting five seats, while BN is contesting 14 seats, requiring a different electoral approach to maximise the coalition’s chances of victory.
