PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has defended the party’s distribution of cash to voters during the last general election, stating that it was charity, hence not against election rules. 

The Marang MP said existing rules only prohibited contesting candidates and contesting their representatives from giving cash to voters. 

“According to election law, a candidate or a candidate’s representative cannot give out cash money, it is up to the public to give alms,” said Abdul Hadi. 

He said this to reporters after attending the Semarak Gelombang Rakyat event with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in Negri Sembilan this morning. 

The PN deputy chairman said that Barisan Nasional’s (BN) move to file petitions contesting the election results of three Terengganu parliamentary seats was tactical. 

“It’s a tactical move,” he said. 

The Terengganu Umno Liaison Body on January 3 filed a petition to annul the results of the recent general election (GE15) for the Kuala Terengganu, Marang, and Kemaman parliamentary constituencies. 

The petition filed in the Kuala Terengganu High Court was in accordance with the Election Offenses Act 1954. 

Terengganu Umno Liaison Board Chairman Ahmad Said said the petition was filed on allegations that PAS had bribed voters by distributing money a few days before GE15 through the i-Pension, i-Belia, and i –Students schemes. 

Ahmad, who represented BN in GE15, lost the Kemaman parliamentary seat to Pas Che candidate Alias Hamid, who won with a majority of 27,179 votes. 

Abdul Hadi Awang maintained his victory in Marang with a majority of 41,729 votes, defeating three other candidates. 

The Kuala Terengganu seat stayed in the hands of PAS candidate Amzad Hashim, who obtained a majority of 40,907 votes defeating three other candidates. – January 21, 2023.