Mohd Zawawi said that the feedback he received from PAS supporters was that “although they are aware of the orders from the top, this a democracy and they will vote for the person whom they feel is qualified”.
He told reporters today: “After meeting them, I’m confident they will throw their lot behind Pakatan’s candidate”.
On Saturday, a PAS leader openly urged supporters to back the BN. The party’s information chief Nasrudin Hassan urged members to reject Pakatan Harapan in the by-election as the ruling coalition had failed to follow Islamic principles in administering the country.
Barisan Nasional candidate Lokman Noor Adam later said he was confident of victory as “PAS supporters are loyal and will normally abide by decisions of the party leadership”.
However, Mohd Zawawi said that there were 7,000 voters who supported PAS and he hoped to win over at least 3,000.
He also noted that Umno leader Khairy Jamaluddin had said that Umno did not need to depend on others.
Zawawi read that to mean that Umno and PAS were not on the same terms. “After their shock loss in the general election, they are directionless,” Zawawi said.
Khairy had indicated on Saturday that he was not in favour of cooperation with PAS, as proposed by senior Umno leaders. The Rembau MP said Umno should not rely on others to win.
“Cooperation is good but Umno needs to stand on its own. Why do we have to depend on another party?” he was quoted as saying.