The candidate is Sarawak PAS secretary Mohammad Arifiriazul Paijo, familiarly known as Arif Paijo. He was defeated in the Lambir state seat in 2016, polling 829 votes and losing his deposit.
PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the party decided to contest for a single seat in the current elections so that it could focus its machinery in the area, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We know that we cannot have many coming in from outside Sarawak to help, and in view of the limited campaigning we can carry out,” he said at a press conference in Kuching tonight.
“The situation is quite challenging this time round but we hope we will be well received in Beting Maro and win,” he said, adding that they have made inroads in the constituency since 2001.
He said that PAS is no stranger in the constituency, with the party providing aid in the past and not just during the election season.
Arif, 37, a former Petronas IT executive, has been active in building up the PAS branch in Beting Maro since 2016, when the party had put up a close fight losing to the Barisan Nasional candidate by 1,707 votes.
Tuan Ibrahim said the decision to field a sole candidate had nothing to do with the party’s performance at the Melaka elections last month, although he insisted that the party was not defeated.
And while the party did not win any of the eight seats it contested, he argued that PAS had “won” in terms of the increase in votes it garnered on Nov 20. “So (this decision) isn’t connected to that (Melaka polls).”
He also played down any friction with GPS, Sarawak’s ruling coalition, who will be fielding Razaili Gapor of PBB for re-election in Beting Maro.
Tuan Ibrahim said PAS was still working together with GPS at the federal level. “So I don’t think it’s an issue.”
In 2016 PAS lost all 11 seats at the Sarawak state elections and 7 of its candidates lost their deposits.
On Dec 2, the party’s official mouthpiece Harakah Daily reported that the party – which stood under the Perikatan Nasional banner in the Melaka polls last month – would contest under its own logo.
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