Several PAS leaders, including Gua Musang chief Azman Ahmad, had said that Bersatu should make way for the Islamic party to contest the Nenggiri seat, citing voters’ concern that their elected representative might switch sides again if a Bersatu candidate is fielded.

However, Kelantan Bersatu chief Kamarudin Nor said there would be no issue of voter confidence despite the move by Nenggiri incumbent Azizi Abu Naim to declare support for Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.

“That’s his (Azman’s) opinion. But there is no issue because PAS has its own record (of representatives switching sides). Husam Musa and Mohamad Sabu were also from PAS.

“But I don’t want to go down that path. I have no issue, because every party has members who leave, not just Bersatu. Umno has had members leave the party, and so has PAS,” Kamarudin told FMT.

Mohamad, also known as Mat Sabu, was once the deputy president of PAS. He left the party in 2015 alongside several other leaders, going on to form Pakatan Harapan component Amanah.

Husam, who was a PAS vice-president, joined Amanah in 2016 after being sacked from the Islamic party.

Last week, Azman confirmed that Gua Musang PAS had submitted three names to the state leadership for consideration for the Nenggiri by-election on Aug 17.

Azman said the proposed candidates were locals and part of the party leadership in the area.

He also said PAS was hopeful that its candidate would be chosen, citing feedback that “voters no longer want to support Bersatu”.

Kamarudin nevertheless maintained that there was no issue of tussles between the Perikatan Nasional components for the Nenggiri seat.

He said he was confident that Bersatu would be allowed to defend the seat, as it was previously won by a candidate from the party.

“Bersatu contested the seat and won, so we should be given priority,” he said.

Nenggiri was once a stronghold of Umno, which lost it in the state election last year where Azizi defeated Barisan Nasional candidate Ab Aziz Yusoff by a majority of 810 votes.