PAS hoping for coalition boost to its chances in Melaka polls

[superadmin]

AYER KEROH: PAS is hoping for a repeat of the last time it contested in Melaka as part of a coalition by winning at least one state seat.

The party made some inroads in Melaka in the 13th general election (GE13) in May 2013, winning its first-ever state seat after its candidate Dr Md Khalid Kassim won the Bukit Baru state seat, which is now known as Bukit Katil.

With PAS being in Pakatan Rakyat at the time, and having the support of PKR and DAP, Khalid beat Umno’s Karim Yaakob with a razor thin margin of less than 50 votes.

The Islamist party then decided to head into GE14 in May 2018 on its own, having left the then opposition coalition. However, it failed to defend its lone state seat and lost in all the 24 contests it took part in, with 10 of its candidates losing their deposit.

Khalid, too, contested in the parliamentary seat of Hang Tuah Jaya and lost his deposit after getting less than 10% of the total votes cast.

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