April 20 – In a sudden turn of event, BN’s candidate for the Pasir Mas parliamentary seat did not file his nominations, paving way for a straight fight between Ibrahim Ali, the incumbent, and Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz.
Despite lobbying to be fielded by BN, Ibrahim did not make the cut, unlike his Perkasa compatriot Zulkifli Nordin, which BN fielded in Shah Alam.
Ibrahim even had Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s endorsement to stand as a BN candidate, raising questions as to whether this had influenced BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak’s to order his candidate to pull out.
BN candidate Che Johan Che Pa, the Pasir Mas Umno division deputy chief, was present at the nomination centre but did not file his papers.
This is Ibrahim’s seventh bid for the Pasir Mas seat. He has won three of his past six contest with three different parties.
The last time he stood as an independent was in 2004, where he garnered only 15 percent of the total votes cast.
His opponent this time round is the son of PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, and is considered favourite to win in Pasir Mas.
