Big turnout on Kuala Terengganu nomination day
Thousands of Barisan Nasional and PAS supporters turned up at the State Stadium here on nomination day yesterday for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election.
Several roads around the stadium were closed from early morning to facilitate traffic control as the supporters gathered to support their candidates.
The weather was fine and despite the crowd, the nominations proceeded smoothly.
First to arrive at the nomination centre at 9am was Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh flanked by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and other party leaders.
Ten minutes later, PAS candidate Abdul Wahid Endut arrived with many supporters including party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and state party chief Datuk Mustafa Ali.
At 9.20am, prospective independent candidate Harun alias Ab Rahman Mohamad of Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (Akim) turned up but caused a stir when he suddenly pulled out and announced his support for PAS while an unknown Azharuddin Mamat filed his papers to contest as an independent.
Nomination day dawned in Kuala Terengganu in an unseasonable sea of blue and green. The whole nation, it appears, has descended on this once quiet parliamentary seat, at least trebling its vehicle population.
IT is almost as if the two giants have switched election strategies – the Barisan Nasional going for the humble, direct-to-voter touch and the Opposition for the mega rallies.
This is particularly true of the PKR, which had scheduled an ambitious “Ambang 2009” rally despite the downpour on New Year’s Eve.
The odds teeter at 50-50, and prime minister-designate Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, leading the Barisan charge, has already warned against complacency and called PAS “a formidable opponent”.
To him, winning Kuala Terengganu is important to Umno “to reclaim the party’s dignity after losing Permatang Pauh”, not to mention countering the drubbing it suffered in the 2008 general election.
Of the four state constituencies that make up Kuala Terengganu, Umno decided to leave the PAS stronghold of Wakaf Mempelam alone and focus on semi-urban Batu Burok and urban Ladang.
Unlike the racially-mixed west coast, Kuala Terengganu, with its 88% Malay voters, is a truer test of who speaks for the Malay heartland.
Umno and PAS claim an equal share of “old guard” affiliations, specifically voters above 40.
Umno recognises that it is the young fence-sitters in Batu Burok and Ladang who will make or break it for the Barisan.
When boxes were opened on the night of March 8 last year, the fourth and fifth polling streams where young voters cast their ballots had gone to PAS, state Umno Youth information chief Razali Idris said. These are the Youth movement’s targets.
Although the Barisan won the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat, of its four state seats, only Bandar went to the Barisan last March, taken by the MCA.
This time, without a Chinese candidate to split the Chinese vote, the Barisan will send out Chinese representatives to woo the 8,787 (11.4%) Chinese voters concentrated in the Bandar and Ladang.
That, topped up with fence-sitters from Baru Burok and Ladang, would enable the Barisan to nose through to victory.
The Barisan’s well-oiled machine is in full gear now, with slight adaptations. In its attempt to meet each voter at least once, Umno is going to reduce its tried and true “kepala 10” strategy (one Umno official in charge of 10 households) to kepala lima (in charge of five) and later, as the pressure builds up, to kepala dua (in charge of two).
Two important variables that allowed the Barisan to win Kuala Terengganu by a 628-vote margin last March were the participation of an independent candidate and postal votes.
Spunky grandmother Tok Mun (Maimun Yusof), 89, brandishing her umbrella symbol, siphoned away 685 votes, just enough to swing PAS to victory. Local analysts claim she was quietly backed by Umno.
Now another independent candidate has thrown his kopiah in the ring. Azharudin Mamat, 45, declared a most altruistic reason for contesting – to help the poor by donating his MP’s allowance to the needy “irrespective of race or party”.
Local analysts also pointed out to postal votes, numbering 1,035, which they claimed could have turned the tide for PAS. This time, the postal votes will be opened at 5pm – a little late to make a difference should PAS be the one to pull ahead.
Adding to an already complex calculation were the unusually large number of spoilt votes – 1,050, which was more than the Barisan’s margin of victory.
“It is unbelievable if you tell me that urban voters don’t know how to vote,” said Razali.
“So they must have spoilt their votes on purpose, in protest. I think they were Umno members who were angry with the Barisan but at the same time could not bring themselves to vote PAS.”
Umno members make up about 40% of Kuala Terengganu’s electorate.
Up to last March, Umno suffered “a leadership problem”, right down to local divisional and branch levels.
“If you called for a meeting, some would not even sit together at a table,” said Razali, who wants to bring them back to the fold. “Now they do.”
Ministers have been flying in and out from Kuala Lumpur to urge that Umno politicking in the run-up to its own general assembly be put aside in the interest of winning this crucial, image-building election for Najib, who takes over as undisputed Umno president in March.
- The Star
Several roads around the stadium were closed from early morning to facilitate traffic control as the supporters gathered to support their candidates.
The weather was fine and despite the crowd, the nominations proceeded smoothly.
First to arrive at the nomination centre at 9am was Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh flanked by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and other party leaders.
Ten minutes later, PAS candidate Abdul Wahid Endut arrived with many supporters including party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and state party chief Datuk Mustafa Ali.
At 9.20am, prospective independent candidate Harun alias Ab Rahman Mohamad of Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (Akim) turned up but caused a stir when he suddenly pulled out and announced his support for PAS while an unknown Azharuddin Mamat filed his papers to contest as an independent.
Nomination day dawned in Kuala Terengganu in an unseasonable sea of blue and green. The whole nation, it appears, has descended on this once quiet parliamentary seat, at least trebling its vehicle population.
IT is almost as if the two giants have switched election strategies – the Barisan Nasional going for the humble, direct-to-voter touch and the Opposition for the mega rallies.
This is particularly true of the PKR, which had scheduled an ambitious “Ambang 2009” rally despite the downpour on New Year’s Eve.
The odds teeter at 50-50, and prime minister-designate Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, leading the Barisan charge, has already warned against complacency and called PAS “a formidable opponent”.
To him, winning Kuala Terengganu is important to Umno “to reclaim the party’s dignity after losing Permatang Pauh”, not to mention countering the drubbing it suffered in the 2008 general election.
Of the four state constituencies that make up Kuala Terengganu, Umno decided to leave the PAS stronghold of Wakaf Mempelam alone and focus on semi-urban Batu Burok and urban Ladang.
Unlike the racially-mixed west coast, Kuala Terengganu, with its 88% Malay voters, is a truer test of who speaks for the Malay heartland.
Umno and PAS claim an equal share of “old guard” affiliations, specifically voters above 40.
Umno recognises that it is the young fence-sitters in Batu Burok and Ladang who will make or break it for the Barisan.
When boxes were opened on the night of March 8 last year, the fourth and fifth polling streams where young voters cast their ballots had gone to PAS, state Umno Youth information chief Razali Idris said. These are the Youth movement’s targets.
Although the Barisan won the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat, of its four state seats, only Bandar went to the Barisan last March, taken by the MCA.
This time, without a Chinese candidate to split the Chinese vote, the Barisan will send out Chinese representatives to woo the 8,787 (11.4%) Chinese voters concentrated in the Bandar and Ladang.
That, topped up with fence-sitters from Baru Burok and Ladang, would enable the Barisan to nose through to victory.
The Barisan’s well-oiled machine is in full gear now, with slight adaptations. In its attempt to meet each voter at least once, Umno is going to reduce its tried and true “kepala 10” strategy (one Umno official in charge of 10 households) to kepala lima (in charge of five) and later, as the pressure builds up, to kepala dua (in charge of two).
Two important variables that allowed the Barisan to win Kuala Terengganu by a 628-vote margin last March were the participation of an independent candidate and postal votes.
Spunky grandmother Tok Mun (Maimun Yusof), 89, brandishing her umbrella symbol, siphoned away 685 votes, just enough to swing PAS to victory. Local analysts claim she was quietly backed by Umno.
Now another independent candidate has thrown his kopiah in the ring. Azharudin Mamat, 45, declared a most altruistic reason for contesting – to help the poor by donating his MP’s allowance to the needy “irrespective of race or party”.
Local analysts also pointed out to postal votes, numbering 1,035, which they claimed could have turned the tide for PAS. This time, the postal votes will be opened at 5pm – a little late to make a difference should PAS be the one to pull ahead.
Adding to an already complex calculation were the unusually large number of spoilt votes – 1,050, which was more than the Barisan’s margin of victory.
“It is unbelievable if you tell me that urban voters don’t know how to vote,” said Razali.
“So they must have spoilt their votes on purpose, in protest. I think they were Umno members who were angry with the Barisan but at the same time could not bring themselves to vote PAS.”
Umno members make up about 40% of Kuala Terengganu’s electorate.
Up to last March, Umno suffered “a leadership problem”, right down to local divisional and branch levels.
“If you called for a meeting, some would not even sit together at a table,” said Razali, who wants to bring them back to the fold. “Now they do.”
Ministers have been flying in and out from Kuala Lumpur to urge that Umno politicking in the run-up to its own general assembly be put aside in the interest of winning this crucial, image-building election for Najib, who takes over as undisputed Umno president in March.
- The Star
MOHD ADHA MOHD ZAIN (ADHA ZAIN)
Blogger Informasi
