Villagers not too confident with PAS, says Zambry
DAY 4 KUALA BESUT Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place in the run-up to polls.
11.40pm: Speaking at a ceramah held behind the Pasar Tani in Kuala Besut, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu claims that an Umno leader had contacted him to express regret over the appointment of Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim as Tabung Haji chairperson.
He alleges that there were capable senior officers in Umno who were not appointed to the post.
“He said, please teach Najib because he’s not capable of appointing someone capable. Tabung Haji has assets of a billion ringgit.
“People of Terengganu, if you want to change, you have to teach Najib by giving a victory to the PAS candidate, Che Long,” he says.
11.00pm: PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub says the party will hold the Terengganu Menteri Besar position should there be a hung state assembly and resolve housing problems in the state.
“If we can achieve 16:16, god willing if it really happen, PAS will become the Menteri Besar and resolve the housing land problem of the state,” he says on a ceramah in Seberang Barat Luar, Kuala Besut.
According to the former Kubang Kerian MP, the PAS state government has resolve 75 percent of the problems when the party captured the state in the 1999 general election.
Salahuddin also stresses that the party will continue to participate the election process despite the fact that there was no level playing field.
He claims that this is the “greatest contribution for the sake of our country” in terms of safety and security as the party does not want to turn Malaysia to another Latin America country where the people topple the government by not going through the election process.
“The security forces should thank PAS... Can you imagine, what is going to happen if PAS decides not to participate the election process?” he questions, adding that the party has 1.3 million members nationwide.
6pm: Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir today embarks on door-to-door visits to meet with villagers at Kampung Lampu in Kuala Besut.
Kampung Lampu falls under the Kampung Nangka polling district in the Kuala Besut state assembly, comprising 1,231 out of the total 17,683 voters.
Speaking to the press, the Pangkor assemblyperson says that BN fell short of 79 votes compared to PAS at this polling district.
That, he says, is a small margin and he is confident of BN wresting the district in the coming by-election.
This is especially so since he claims, based on his observations, that the villagers are not too confident with the opposition here.
Meanwhile, based on his experience growing up in a kampung, he puts any of the villagers’ dissatisfaction with the government as down to small misunderstandings.
“For example, if in a kampung, he (BN representative) may have some dispute with the village chief... Let’s say the chief forgot to greet him when passing by on his motorcycle. That’s what happens in kampungs,” he says.
Zambry assures that Perak Umno will look after Kampung Nangka and will continue to approach voters in a personal manner.
“And we will not hold any ceramah, because we think this is not good for us to use this kind of approach,” he adds.
2.45pm: Standing tall and proud, replicas of a giant motorcycle and a military tank have been erected at the Kampung Baru UPU centre in Kuala Besut.
Wrapped in PAS flags, the replicas were built using recycled materials such as a used bulldozer wheel.
Malaysiakini is told the large motorcycle was completed last night, while the tank was put up there a few days ago.
“I heard tell, we want to tease (Home Minister Ahmad) Zahid Hamidi. These ministers love big bikes. If you want to hear more, come tonight,” a PAS officer on duty said when questioned about the display.
2.30pm:
BN has put up many banners in several areas popular with the public, memorialising the late Kuala Besut assemblyperson A Rahman Mokhtar.It shows Rahman speaking with some villagers, and reads, 'While busy with the by-election, forget not those who have served', along with a 1Malaysia ‘Peope First’ slogan.
The banners are placed on the entire length of Jln Kuala Besut - Jertih
11.30am:
PAS central committee member Dzulkefli Ahmad says PAS candidate Azlan Yusof will be at the Besut PAS’ main election operations centre to meet with the media to respond to any allegations that have been levelled against him so far.
As it appears that the media find it difficult to reach Azlan for comments, Dzulkefli says they will endeavour to arrange it so that Azlan spends his time similarly tomorrow and at other press conferences.
“He will be here. He has been told to be here tomorrow and any time in the future,” he said.
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