DAY 11 KUALA BESUT Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place in the run-up to the Wednesday by-election.

 

11.40pm: Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said denies that the Taman Ilmu project in Tembilar, Besut, is being neglected.

"It is still ongoing and we expect the university to come in on Sept 1. The 1,500 units of hostels are already done, so are the mosque and the library. It is just that there is a problem with leaks that the contractor needs to fix," he says during a press conference.

He was responding to Kuala Terengganu MP Raja Kamarul Bahrin Raja Ahmad Shah’s allegation on Saturday that the RM300 million project has been neglected and the contractor is having difficulty collecting its dues for the work already done.

11.00pm:

Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said hosts a barbecue dinner at Dataran Besut, which includes a lucky draw, featuring prizes such as bicycles, rice cookers, and 48-inch LED TVs.

Also present was BN’s Kuala Besut candidate Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman, who urged voters to support him and left just before the lucky draw started.

Highlighting the recently-announced project to deepen the nearby Sungai Besut estuary, he said, "the project to upgrade the breakwater is a turning point for a new Kuala Besut.

"Not only it uplifts our economic lives, but it is also a convenience to fishermen, tourist boats, and the people of Kuala Besut.

"Therefore, let us be thankful it has been approved as a gift for us in Kuala Besut," he told the audience of about 400.

2.30pm:

Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof issues a press statement on the do's and don'ts on polling day.

Among them, voters are reminded not to fall prey to ploys to dupe them into dipping their fingers into indelible ink before going to vote.

Voters are reminded to only dip their finger into the ink at their designated polling booth.

"Voters must dip their left index finger into the bottle prepared by the EC. The voter coming to vote will have his finger inspected to ensure that it is free from ink," he adds.

If voters stain their ballot papers with the ink, the presiding officer can issue new ballot papers on request, if he is satisfied that the stains were made unintentionally.

1:30pm:

PAS candidate Azlan Yusof arrives at the Kuala Besut election centre for Zohor prayers.

"No problems with the campaign, Even in BN strongholds, the people have shown a positive response to me," he says.

NONE 1pm: PAS Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli and DAP national organising secretaty Anthony Loke introduce themselves to a foreign tourist and informs her that Kuala Besut is having a by-election.

When she asks what party they come from, Hatta replied, “He (Anthony) is from the democratic party (DAP) and I'm from the Islamic party, and we work together”.

12.46pm: With two days to go to polling day, BN candidate Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman says he remains confident that BN would reach its goal of increasing its majority in Kuala Besut to 4,000, almost double of the previous victory which had a majority of 2,434 votes.

"The response we have received is very encouraging, even moving. We are confident that on July 24, BN will retain (this seat) with an even larger majority," he said, when asked by reporters during his surprise visit to the Kuala Besut media centre.

He added that last two days of campaigning would be focused on Kuala Besut's town area and the Bukit Puteri polling district.

12.45pm: DAP national organising secretaty Anthony Loke is on a walkabout at Kuala Besut town.

NONE Accompanied by PAS Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli, the Seremban MP meets and greets voters, most of them Chinese, and asks for their support towards PAS candidate in the coming by-election Azlan Yusof.

Nevertheless, Azlan is not with them during the session.

11.30am: Former Bukit Besi PKR candidate Mohd Shamsul Mat Amin claims that he and two other former PKR candidates from Terengganu - Mohamed Abdul Ghani Ibrahim (Kota Putera) and Narawi Embong (Telemong) - will sue PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for defamation.

NONE This is over Hadi's comments in April as to why PAS was fielding its own candidates against its ally PKR in seven seats for the May 5 general election, including against the trio.

Hadi had said PKR’s candidates were feared to be selling methamphetamine , or displaying portraits of communist leaders in their headquarters.

However, he did not name anyone in his statement.

"As a result of his speech, I am constantly ostracised and ridiculed by my fellow villagers. It has damaged my reputation, my family and my party is tainted, and my business is indirectly affected," Mohd Shamsul says, reading from his police report between sobs.

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