The Perak chapter of the Islamist party PAS is seeking help from its party members to settle part of the RM270,000 owing to the Attorney-General Office. The sum incurred was due to a failed petition the party had filed against the then ruling coalition BN Perak following the outcome of the 13th General Election of 2013.
The election court had dismissed the petition with cost and PAS Perak was ordered to pay RM270,000. The party made a partial payment of RM135,000 leaving a balance of RM135,000 still unpaid.
The situation has become desperate so much so that the party leadership is appealing to its members statewide to donate in kind.
“PAS Perak has some 100,000 members. If each member could donate RM10 it would help lighten our burden,” said Razman Zakaria, Deputy Commissioner of PAS Perak.
When asked whether a fund drive was on going, as was normally done, he replied, “Yes we do. However, the amount collected was only RM23,000. The money has been disbursed to party branches for administrative use.”
PAS Perak, in pandering to central leadership’s directive to wrest Perak from BN, had contested in 43 out of the 59 state seats. The party too vied in 19 of the 24 parliamentary seats during the 14th General Election (GE 14) of May 9. The outcome was not something unexpected. PAS Perak managed to only win three state seats while losing all the parliamentary seats they stood for.
Many still are asking what had come of the RM90 million paid to the party by former Prime Minister Najib Razak in the run up to GE 14.
