PAS is not relevant in Sarawak - Dr Jeniri

Sarawak political analyst, Dr Jeniri Amir advised PAS not to place their candidates for the Sarawak state election, expected to be held in 2016.

Dr Jeniri said based on the results of the state election in 2011, PAS did not garner any support from the urban and rural areas.

Based on the record, he said it is difficult for PAS to get support as their approach is incompatible with the socio-demographic of Sarawak.

"If we look at the voting patterns during state elections in 2011, PAS was rejected in urban areas and the party had difficulty in getting votes in rural areas, where most of the voters are Melanau Malays.

"If it is difficult for PAS to win over the Melanau Malays voters, who are Muslims, how are they able to get the support of the Dayak voters?

"PAS members may not be able to accept what I'm saying here but this is the political reality of Sarawak that must be understood, PAS is not relevant in Sarawak," he said when contacted by Astro AWANI.

Dr Jeniri said it is hard for the people of Sarawak to accept the approach by PAS and it needs a lot of time to find its place in the state.

He explained, the people of Sarawak's acceptance of the issues relating to Islam is different than the appraoch made by PAS.

That factor is the reason why PAS is difficult to be accepted by the voters in Sarawak for the next state election.

He said, as compared to PAS, the other two parties in the Pakatan Rakyat alliance - DAP and PKR - are easily accepted by the locals.

"We can see that DAP is accepted especially in the urban areas and a few rural areas.

"It is also the same with PKR, in which their performance is much better than PAS during the last state election," he said.

He advised PAS leaders to duly consider before making the decision to put a candidate for the upcoming state election.

During the 2011 state election, PAS contested in five seats which are Tanjong Datu, Muara Tuang, Sadong Jaya, Sebuyau, and Beting Maro. However, the party failed to win any seats.

On the other hand, DAP won 12 out of 15 contested seats, while PKR won three out of 49 seats.