PAS rallies troops amid snap poll rumours
Amid word that dissolution of the Perak state assembly is imminent, about a thousand Pas Youth members gathered in Kubu Gajah in Selama in the north of the state for a 'rally the troops' session.
Amid word that dissolution of the Perak state assembly is imminent, about a thousand Pas Youth members gathered in Kubu Gajah in Selama in the north of the state for a 'rally the troops' session.
Reputedly the party with the strongest network of cadres on the ground among the three components of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, the session in Kubu Gajah was aimed at raising the ardour of Youth members in Perak to polls-ready intensity.
Ousted Menteri Besar Mohamed Nizar Jamaluddin (left) and PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar addressed the gathering while another vice president, Salahuddin Ayub, led the youth in a solemn pledge to stay steadfast to the task of deposing Barisan Nasional at the next General Election.
Nizar told the crowd, who had assembled on an open playground in Kubu Gajah, to view the 'Allah' issue, now roiling national affairs, as an attempt by Umno to regain lost support among Muslims.
The word on the grapevine is that the Perak assembly will be dissolved before the Federal Court delivers judgment on the Zambry vs Nizar issue of who is the rightful Menteri Besar of the state on Feb 9.
Poised to fare better
The issue of whether the High Court affirmed Nizar or the Court of Appeal reinstated Zambry as the rightful Menteri Besar will be rendered moot if Zambry were to move to dissolve the state assembly.
Judging from today's gathering of PAS Youth activists, the party is poised to leverage on the popularity of Nizar to increase their take of the seats allotted to them in the Pakatan seat sharing arrangement for Perak.
At a mere six seats, PAS won the least number compared to its Pakatan coalition partners, DAP (won 18 seats, one assemblyperson has since defected) and PKR (won 7, two defected), at the last election in March 2008.
Their tally may be higher if polls are held soon, due to the respect Nizar gained in his brief 11-month stay as menteri besar.
That and the cohesiveness of their grassroots network are set to see PAS do better should polls be held soon.
