Umno candidate: PN claims being blocked from using facilities in Pelangai state constituency

KUANTAN - Pahang Perikatan Nasional (PN) claims that they have been prevented from using the public square and field facilities in the Pelangai State Legislative Assembly for the candidate announcement ceremony scheduled for this Wednesday.

State Pas information chief Mohd Tarmizi Yahaya said due to the obstruction, they were forced to find another location for the event.

"The date for the candidate announcement for Pelangai has been set for Sept 20 at 9pm.

"The location, however, has not been finalised. We will only be able to announce the event's location tomorrow (Tuesday)," he said when contacted today.

He said he acknowledged that the coalition party was facing problems even though they have submitted a request to use the public square or field in Pelangai.

"For example, we requested to use the public field, a football field and we even paid a deposit for one field, but the deposit was returned due to alleged pressure from higher-ups," he said.

Meanwhile, Pahang Pas deputy commissioner Andansura Rabu said this was a common issue they faced.

He said PN was looking for a location on private land if it was allowed to be used as the venue.

"For now, we have several options and we will announce the location tomorrow. Two locations we requested for within the Felda area were rejected on the grounds that the fields are undergoing renovations.

"The public spaces cannot be used; there are two village fields, one they said we couldn't be used for the party's programme and the other was initially allowed and we paid a deposit, but then they returned the deposit, claiming it was under pressure from higher-ups," he said.

The Beserah assemblyman added that the state government was practising outdated politics by obstructing public facilities for use by the opposition party.

"We can see that when they (government) felt threatened by the opposition, they create obstacles, such as denying allocations, prohibiting meetings with government agencies and so on.

"So, this Madani government is all talk, but its actions contradict what is said," he said.