From:
Date: 18 Nov 1999
Time: 23:48:20
PAS selects four to face Dr M
ALOR STAR: PAS has shortlisted four candidates to challenge Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Kubang Pasu with top ulamak Datuk Harun Din being one of them.
A PAS state official confirmed the candidacy but declined to elaborate.
However, PAS sources said yesterday that Harun's candidacy could run into some problems as he has some "legal" matters which needed clearing before he could be nominated.
"The other candidate, Subky Latif, the former PAS information chief, had been slotted as a reserve," one source said.
He said the other two were government officers whom he described as newcomers but "influential."
The source said Harun was an ideal candidate to contest against Dr Mahathir because "both do not like each other."
"It is a contest of personality to some and a test case as to who is more Islamic," he added.
However, an Umno observer said all four would be no match for Dr Mahathir.
"Kubang Pasu is as strong as a fort. It would not crumble as long as Dr Mahathir is there," he said.
Dr Mahathir last won the Kubang Pasu seat with a thumping 17,000 votes majority in 1995.
PAS is also expected to field central committee member Mohamad Sabu instead of party president Datuk Fadzil Noor for the Kuala Kedah parliamentary seat.
Sources said the decision was made to give Barisan Nasional's Datuk Zakaria Said a tough fight.
The source said Mohamad Sabu had a large group of followers who would turn up at his ceramahs by the thousands.
Fadzil is likely to stand for the Pendang parliamentary seat and is expected to face incumbent Othman Abdul.
For the state seat, Fadzil may contest in Anak Bukit, facing incumbent Datuk Abdullah Hasnan Kamaruddin.
"He has decided to let another PAS candidate contest in his Bukit Raya seat which is considered safe."
The source added that former National Mosque imam Taib Azamuddin would be fielded in Baling while novelist Prof Datuk Shahnon Ahmad was expected to make his debut in Sik.