KUALA TERENGGANU (Bernama): PAS is confident that a consensus can be reached among the political parties in the ruling government in facing the Melaka state election on Nov 20.

       Its secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan said although there were only three days left before the nomination of candidates for the election, the efforts and discussions were still ongoing to avoid the contest for seats involving PAS, Umno and Bersatu.

       "Ideally, the parties in the Federal Government should not be contesting against each other. This has been touted by the PAS president himself (Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang). We can act as mediator or facilitator to avoid a split.

       "In Melaka, there are 28 seats and already a lot if divided by three. Nine or 10 seats each. We need only 19 seats to get a two-thirds majority win. We can contest all 28 seats if there are no three-cornered fights, so we should avoid this,” he said at a press conference in conjunction with PAS’ 67th Annual Assembly, here on Thursday (Nov 4).

       The Melaka election will be held following the dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly on Oct 4, when four assemblymen withdrew support for the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali.

       The Election Commission has set Nov 20 for polling, Nov 8 for the nomination of candidates and Nov 16 for early voting. - Bernama