He said it was now up to PN leaders, especially those from PAS, to decide whether or not to appeal the decision. An appeal must be filed by Oct 3.

Fadhli, who is also the PAS Youth chief, said if his party decided not to appeal the decision, they would go all out to defend the seat if a by-election is called.

“God willing, we will win again with a much bigger majority,” he told FMT.

In last year’s nationwide polls, PN’s Che Alias Hamid won the seat with a 27,179-vote majority in a four-cornered fight.

Earlier today, the Election Court in Terengganu nullified PN’s victory after it found that the payment of i-Belia and i-Siswa aid to voters during the campaign period constituted bribery.

On the issue of bribes, Fadhli claimed that there were double standards.

He said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had previously stated that the announcement of government allocations during the election period did not constitute a bribe.

Fadhli cited the announcement by deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in Terengganu when campaigning for the state election, as an example.

At an event in Dungun, Terengganu, Zahid announced grants of RM250,000 to the Terengganu Malaysia Youth Council, RM200,000 to motorcycle teams throughout the state and RM100,000 to the Central Terengganu Development Authority (Ketengah) youth association.

Fadhli said based on the grounds on which the court decided to nullify the result for the Kemaman seat, Zahid’s announcement constituted a bribe.

Meanwhile, PAS central committee member Dr Azman Ibrahim said a by-election is inevitable whether or not his party decides to appeal the election court’s verdict.

However, he said this would present a dilemma for Umno, as contesting the Kemaman seat again would likely lead to a repeat of its dismal performance in GE15.

“Perhaps an easier way is to make Pakatan Harapan the scapegoat by allowing them to contest the by-election,” Azman said in a Facebook post.