Hadi wants SG4 state polls held alongside GE16

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has dismissed any need for separate state elections in Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis – known as the “SG4” bloc – suggesting that they be held concurrently with the 16th general election (GE16).

Hadi said it was up to Perikatan Nasional leaders to decide whether there was a need to dissolve the state assemblies in the SG4 states under their administration.

However, he said holding the state and federal polls simultaneously would be more strategic and practical, Utusan Malaysia reported.

“There’s no need for separate state elections. Just hold the general election and include the states. Do everything at once.

“It won’t be so troublesome, having to vote one after another. We should spare the people (the trouble),” he told reporters after delivering a lecture at Rusila Mosque in Marang, Terengganu, today.

He was asked about Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan’s proposal for an election in one of the SG4 states, particularly Terengganu, as a test of PAS’s sincerity in pursuing Malay unity.

Mohamad, also known as Tok Mat, said if the two parties could agree on a formula for seat negotiations in Terengganu, a similar approach could be adopted for GE16.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man shot down Mohamad’s call, saying it would burden voters and incur unnecessary costs.

Tuan Ibrahim said he supported an early GE16, but this did not mean his party had to agree with the proposal for an early election in Terengganu as well.

In the August 2023 Terengganu election, Umno contested 32 state seats but won none of them.

The party also lost all eight parliamentary seats in the state in the 15th general election in 2022.