KANGAR: Pas has identified a candidate to represent Perikatan Nasional (PN) to defend its state seat in the upcoming Sungai Bakap by-election.
Pas vice-president Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said that the party had delegated the final decision on candidate selection to the Penang Pas liaison committee.
"At the moment, we are still in the early stages of discussions regarding the candidate for that seat, and the final decision has not yet been made by the top leadership.
"The party has not made any decisions, but we are also waiting for suggestions from the Pas Penang liaison committee, which will discuss and submit their candidate recommendations to Pas central committee.
"As of now, the seat is designated for our candidate as it is a Pas state seat," he told reporters after paying a courtesy visit to the Perlis state legislative assembly speaker's office at the Perlis State Assembly Complex here today.
Amar said that while the party did have potential candidates, the official selection would only be made after considering recommendations from the state Pas liaison committee.
"We do have candidates, but we haven't finalised our choice yet because Penang Pas has its own considerations. We prefer not to interfere and want to give the state Pas the space they need since they are more familiar with the local candidates."
He added, "We don't have complete information at this moment and will conduct a thorough study on the suitability of the candidates and other relevant factors before making a decision."
On May 24, the Sungai Bakap state seat was vacated following the passing of its incumbent, Nor Zamri Latiff, 56. (hyperlink: )
Zamri died at Seberang Jaya Hospital where he had been admitted since late last month due to an inflammation of the stomach.
He contested the Sungai Bakap seat in the 2023 state election and won against PKR's Nurhidayah Che Rus with a 1,563-vote majority.