Batu Talam By-election - PAS, PKR Give Up Hope Of Winning.

Pas and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Wednesday night announced that they would boycott the Batu Talam by-election scheduled for Jan 28.

Pas deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa said the decision was taken following the discovery of discrepancies in the electoral roll for the constituency.

"The electoral roll appears doubtful. Coupled with postal votes that are never transparent and prejudiced, we decided that it was best we boycotted the by-election," he said before 1,000 Pas and PKR supporters at Pas' constituency headquarters here.

Also present were Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang amd PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Nasharudin also said that the biased attitude of the Election Commission chairman favouring the Barisan Nasional (BN) was also a factor in the boycott decision.

"If Pas and PKR participate in this by-election, it would mean we too are a party to the abuse the democratic process," said Nasharuddin.

The seat fell vacant following the death of its BN state assemblyman Datuk Tengku Paris Tengku Razlan, 65, of cancer on Dec 27. In the last general election in 2004, he beat Dr Mohamed Nilam Abdul Manaf of Pas with a majority of 2,761 votes.

The EC fixed Jan 16 as the nomination day. (Bernama)

***** Despite the reasons for their withdrawal which can be justified, the truth is that the opposition has more or less given up any hope of winning this by-election. With the entire government machinery against them and the loads of goodies that the BN normally doles out with our money, PAS and PKR stand no chance at all of giving a tough fight. Better to save their energy and their limited finances for the general election.
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