Selepas cipta kejutan di Sabah, PAS sasar tanding 4 DUN di Sarawak

PAS is aiming to contest four seats in the upcoming Sarawak PRN election, including the Samariang, Sebuyau, and Beting Maro constituencies, following its success in winning the first seat for an Islamic party in Malaysia Bumi in the Sabah DUN election in November last year. PAS Sarawak spokesperson Arifiriazul Paijo said the state government has already planned to take the matter to the central level, according to Harian Metro.

He added that PAS Sarawak is also considering another DUN seat, either in the Bintulu or Sibuti parliamentary constituency, which will be announced later. For these three DUN seats, PAS is almost certainly to contest, depending on the highest party decision, he said. PAS Sarawak has also been mobilizing since early, having a list of pre-candidate nominees for the three confirmed seats.

The party made history in the PRN Sabah by winning the Karambunai seat in November last year, giving the Islamic party its first DUN victory in East Malaysia. PAS only contested one seat in the 2021 Sarawak PRN, Beting Maro, where they lost to a coalition party candidate, Razaili Gapor, by a margin of 1,711 votes. Beting Maro and Sebuyau are located in the Batang Lupar parliamentary constituency, while Samariang is in the Petra Jaya constituency.

These three seats have predominantly Muslim Bumiputera voters. Arifiriazul said Samariang is one of the early constituencies PAS contested when the party started operating in the Borneo state in 2001, alongside Beting Maro. The party has contested more seats over time and put forward 11 candidates in the PRN 2016, but failed to win any seats. PAS has roughly 10,000 members in Sarawak, including 1,000 from the non-Islamic wing.