Kelantan needs to make BN-PH a strong opposition
MOHD FAIZUL HAIKA MAT KHAZI
SHAH ALAM - While not trying to raise the white flag before contesting, the Unity Government led by Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) have to accept the bitter truth that it will be difficult to defeat Pas which has led Kelantan government for the past 33 years.
To illustrate this point, in the 15th General Election (GE15), not a single Parliamentary seat in the state was won by PH-BN.
Because of that, the PH-BN coalition would like the people of Kelantan to give them a chance to become a strong opposition in Cik Siti Wan Kembang's state.
State Umno information chief Datuk Zawawi Othman said that although it is difficult to seize Kelantan from Pas, they are optimistic that they will be able to grab certain seats that currently belongs to Perikatan Nasional (PN).
"We have a chance to win certain seats, but what is more important is that the people of Kelantan have to decide to make BN-PH a strong opposition if they want to maintain Pas government in the state election.
"They cannot give PN and Pas a two-third majority to enable BN-PH to play a more effective check and balance role in the Kelantan state assembly later," he told Sinar Premium.
On June 14th, Kelantan Chief Minister Datuk Ahmad Yakob announced that the state government will dissolve the state legislative assembly on June 22nd to make way for the state elections.
Kelantan has 45 state assembly constituencies from which Pas had won 37 seats in GE14 thus retaining the state administration since 1990.
Meanwhile, BN had won eight seats, but one seat belonging to the party fell into the hands of Bersatu after Ayer Lanas assemblyman Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed left Umno.
According to Zawawi, the people of Kelantan need to give BN-PH a chance in the state polls considering several failures by Pas-led government including job opportunities which has caused many to end up unemployed or having to migrate to other states just to survive.
He said that Pas also failed to execute various development projects that were proposed to the people since they took over the state.
Zawawi was also disappointed with the state governments failure to deal with water issues even though it is the government responsibility.
"What Pas proposed with 'Rising with Islam' slogan is not only not true, but also far-fetched as it is purely just a political rhetoric," he said.
