9am to 10am: Nomination period

10am to 11am: Objection period

11am to 12 noon: Official announcement from EC

PHOTO GALLERY

 

 

It’s nomination day for the by-election in the state seats of Merlimau in Malacca and Kerdau in Pahang. Both contests are expected to see straight fights between Umno and PAS.

LIVE REPORTS

7.08am: Merlimau - The sky is pink as the sun rises in Merlimau and police, party workers and the media take their places in their respective duty areas n this slightly windy day.

NONE Police have set up barricades, barbwire and several trucks as a buffer between the PAS and BN supporters who are slowly trickling in.

BN's starting point for its march is about 200 metres from the nomination centre, while PAS is starting some 500 metres away.

7.30am: Kerdau - The sun is fiercely bright over Temerloh town, where the battle for the Kerdau state seat will begin today.

Police have cordoned off Dewan Tun Razak, where the nomination of candidates will take place, putting up a perimeter of iron fencing and barbwire since yesterday evening.

NONE The roads leading to the nomination centre have also been blocked by the police as early as dawn.

PAS supporters have assembled at Plaza Temerloh, some 500 metres from Dewan Tun Razak, as early as 5.30am to say prayers and get ready for the march to the nomination centre, while BN supporters have assembled at Dataran Temerloh, an equal distance away, from 7am.

PAS supporters however have made an early presence near the nomination centre, with several stalls selling peddling all sorts of things from ceramah videos to Misai Kuching tea and sunglasses.

8.10am: Kerdau - It's the calm before the storm at the Kerdau nomination centre as senior BN leaders including Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor wait for the arrival of their candidate and his entourage.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to arrive at Dewan Tun Razak at around 8.15am.

NONE 8.16am: Merlimau - About 1,000 BN supporters are chanting " Merlimau DUNku sayang " (Merlimau, my beloved DUN) while they prepare to march to the nomination centre.

While BN junior members like PPP and Kimma are here in force, there are no banners from more senior members such as MIC and MCA.

8.24am: Kerdau - PAS candidate Hassanuddin Salim arrives at the nomination with 400 Pakatan Rakyat supporters in tow, chanting ' Allahu-akhbar !' and ' Takbir !' while holding up PAS and PKR flags.

8.25am: Merlimau - PAS candidate Yuhaizad Abdullah and wife Shakila Mohamad arrive at the Pakatan gathering point near the Sime Darby estate about 150m away from that nomination centre at Merlimau Polytechic College.

NONE PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Azizah, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Md Isa, PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali and ousted Perak Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin are among the Pakatan Rakyat crowd.

Yuhaizad who is clad in white baju melayu says he is confident to help PAS win the party's first seat in Malacca.

8.26am: Merlimau - PAS Meru member Abdul Rahim, 40, says he drove all the way from Selangor with his wife and six children - aged 13 months to 12 years old. The family arrived in Merlimau as early as 7am.

NONE Abdul Rahim says he brought his children to the by-election to instill in them the spirit of patriotism.

"I've even brought them to (take part) in a protest near the US embassy," he tells Malaysiakini .

8.28am: Merlimau - MIC and MCA supporters finally arrive at the BN camp to join Umno candidate Roslan Ahmad . Jasin MP Ahmad Hamzah is busy organising all supporters.

Kimma chants " Hidup Kimma " (Long live Kimma) to cheers from others in the crowd. Seen mingling with the crowd are BN leaders including Wee Ka Siong, Shaziman Abu Mansor, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Koh Tsu Koon and G Palanivel.

The crowd of BN supporters has grown to about 2,000.

8.30am: Merlimau - PAS supporters begin marching to nomination centre after a short prayer.

NONE There are about 5,000 of them, some carrying party flags as well as banners bearing messages such as " Apco-Israel bahaya " (Apco-Israel is dangerous) and "Justice for Beng Hock".

The PAS supporters shout slogan "Tak nak Najib, tak nak Rosmah".

Meanwhile, a group from Persatuan Ketua-ketua Kampung Melaka also joins BN supporters. They are clad in black baju melayu and sampin .

PAS candidate Yuhaizad Abdullah's father was a former Tok Sidang for Kampung Chinchin.

8.36am: Kerdau - The BN crowd, which is gathering at Stadium Temerloh, increases from 300 to 500.

Meanwhile, about 2,000 PAS supporters have arrived at the nomination center in Dewan Tun Razak.

NONE 8.44am: Kerdau - Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob arrive at Stadium Temerloh, which is just about 500m away from the nomination centre.

8.48am: Merlimau - BN starts to march to the song " Inilah Barisan Kita " (This is our Barisan).

The Pemuda BN banner reads " Jangan Bawa Pengundi Hantu " (Don't bring phantom voters).

8.50am: Kerdau - BN candidate Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad leads the prayer before leading his supporters to march to the nomination centre.

8.57am: Kerdau - DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang and a small entourage of DAP leaders arrive at the nomination centre.

9am: NOMINATION OPENS

Kerdau - By-election returning officer Tariff Abdul Rahman announces the start of the nomination process.

Candidates will have an hour from 9am to 10am to file their candidacy papers.

BN supporters arrive at the nomination centre.

NONE Merlimau - Yuhaizad Abdullah ( right ) PAS candidate is already at the nomination centre to hand in his nomination forms.

9.02am: Kerdau - BN candidate Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad arrives at the Kerdau nomination centre, accompanied by DPM Muhyiddin and several other BN leaders, and scores of BN supporters.

PAS candidate for Kerdau, Hassanuddin Salim enters the nomination centre. BN candidate Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad goes in four minutes later.

9.04am: Merlimau - BN's Roslan Ahmad enters the nomination centre.

9.11am: Kerdau - The BN crowd starts gathering in a field in front of the nomination centre.

9.16am: Kerdau - PAS candidate for Kerdau, Hassanuddin Salim, completes filing his nomination papers before returning officer Tariff Abdul Rahman.

NONE BN candidate Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad is now filing his nomination papers.

9.17am: Merlimau - Some BN local leaders try hard to squeeze into the nomination centre but are blocked by the police as they do not have passes issued by the Election Commission.

The BN crowd quiets down substantially as the mercury rises. They can hear Pakatan supporters aggressively shouting slogans but do not react.

9.23am: Merlimau - MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong says BN is encouraged by the recent by-election victories that he says signifies that the tide is turning towards BN.

NONE "A big win (in Merlimau) will be an endorsement to Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam," he beams.

Meanwhile, photographers are busy taking photos of a fat cat, which is wearing a BN 'T-shirt'.

9.26am: Kerdau - BN's Kerdau candidate, Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad, completes filing of his nomination papers. Both he and PAS candidate Hassanuddin Salim later oblige the throng of photographers with a photo opportunity, shaking hands and waving for the cameras.

The candidates, with their respective proposer and seconder, are now sharing breakfast at the same table, while waiting for the nomination period to end.

9.34am: Kerdau - Many of the BN crowd of about 500 strong are from outside the state, some as far as Perak and Penang.

azlan Supporters from both sides have started the customary battle of slogans, with Pakatan supporters going " BN, BN, Barang Naik !" and " Tolak, tolak! Tolak BN " ("BN, BN, prices go up," and "Reject BN!"), to boos from the other side.

It appears for the moment that Pakatan supporters, who are more organised and have more slogans, are drowning out their BN opponents, who are jeering and sporadically chanting " Hidup BN !" (Long live BN).

The two groups are some 40m apart, with barbwire fencing keeping them in check.

There is also a strong presence of more than 50 FRU personnel and police officers in between the two camps.

9.45am: Kerdau - BN supporters are chanting ' Kesiannya ' (How sad) at the PAS dominated crowd.

PAS supporters respond by singing ' Duit duit, di mananya duit? Di sana, di sana ' (Money, where is the money? Over there).

9.45am: Merlimau - The police stop a number of party leaders from entering the nomination centre, causing a minor commotion between Teratai state representative Jenice Lee and EC officers.

NONE Lee, who arrived at 9.15am, claims that DAP had applied for 20 passes, and she was assigned by the party to be inside the nomination centre.

However, the police refuse to hear her complaint. Lee talks to an EC officer, who explains that the quota for both parties has already been filled.

"I have been to many by-elections and this did not happen before,” says an upset Lee.

9.52am: Merlimau - PAS vice-president Nasharuddin Md Isa says that their campaign will be a combination of local, national and international issues.

NONE "This is a good exercise for the Pakatan Rakyat and PAS machinery in preparing for the next general election," he said.

Former Perak MB Nizar Jamaluddin, who has been here since yesterday, said that his impression of Merlimau is more positive than Tenang where PAS lost recently.

"I was in a remote Malay area last night and the questions they were asking me were on federal issues, so that is good for Pakatan," he said.

10am: NOMINATION CLOSES

Kerdau - Returning officer Tariff Abdul Rahman announces the end of the nomination period and the start of the one-hour objection period. 

NONE Only two candidates from PAS and BN have submitted nomination forms, copies of which will be posted up outside the nomination centre from 10am to 11am.

Merlimau - Returning officer Roslan Eusoff also announces the closing of nominations. A straight fight is expected as only two nominations have been received.

10.10am: Merlimau - The BN crowd, which earlier was at 2,000, has grown to 3,000, matching the Pakatan crowd of 3,000.

The sun is getting stronger, sapping the energy of both BN and Pakatan supporters.

Whenever the opposition supporters see someone from BN entering the nomination centre, they shout "rasuah" and "hancur Najib, hancur Rosmah".

10.12am: Merlimau - DAP Youth chief Anthony Loke says that the battle is in the Malay kampung, where some residents are afraid of Pakatan because of BN's alleged scare tactics.

azlan "Umno tells them that if Pakatan takes over the government, then the Chinese will rule and the position of the Malays will be affected," he said.

In Merlimau, DAP has been going in to Malay kampungs with PAS in an effort to explain their position.

Meanwhile, Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that previous by-elections have proven that Pakatan is "not just mischievious but evil ( jahat )" in slandering BN.

"We hope Merlimau voters will not be influenced," he said, adding that BN hopes to increase its winning majority which took a plunge from more than 5,000 in 2004 to about 2,000 in 2008.

10.26am: Merlimau - MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong visits the PAS tent at the nomination centre as both sides wait for the one-hour objection period to end at 11am.

He jokes that he is there to "disturb" them.

PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin replies, "You take care of (the PAS camp) and I take care of the other side."

10.40am: Supporters in Kerdau and Merlimau are beginning to wither under the hot sun.

NONE 10.51am: Kerdau - Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein said that PM Najib Razak and DPM Muhyiddin Yassin will begin their trip to visit every state in the country beginning next month.

They will kick off their trip with Sarawak, which will see a state election in the next few months, he tells reporters.

According to Hishammuddin, the PM and DPM will visit two states per month, and hopefully this can be completed by September this year.

Speaking of the plan by the Human Rights Party to hold a rally tomorrow in Kuala Lumpur, the home minister says he will leave it to the police chief to handle the matter.

However, he says he doesn’t want to see some people using this rally to sow discord among Malaysians.

He stresses that the democracy movement in the Middle East will not affect Malaysia as the situation there is different. 

10.50am: Merlimau - Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim has a tough time explaining to BN supporters that his state government did the right thing by disallowing a UiTM to be built in Serendah.

NONE He is led to the BN tent at the nomination centre by Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam, whom he had earlier paid a courtesy call.

"It's not that we don't want it but business must be done the right way," he tells the supporters, to no avail.

Selangor rejected the UiTM following a chequered report on Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan.

Mohd Ali capitalises on the situation by saying 'thank you' to Khalid since the UiTM is now being built in Malacca.

NONE " Tan Sri Khalid ni tak apa, dia bila kempen cakap 'Hidup BN' ," he says as an embarassed Khalid laughs.

BN supporters then rib him further by saying that his "heart is still with BN".

Khalid had mistakenly said "Vote for BN" when campaigning under PKR for the Ijok seat.

11am: OBJECTION PERIOD ENDS

Kerdau - By-election returning officer Tariff Abdul Rahman announces the end of the objection period. It is understood that there were no objections filed.

Merliamau - Returning officer Roslan Eusoff also announces the objection period is over.

11.02am: Merlimau - A group of six representing 106 local Chinese associations is spotted outside the nomination centre, waiting to present their Merlimau by-election "suqiu" (appeal) to both candidates.

11.26am: Merlimau - Returning officer Roslan Eusoff announces there were three objections but both nominations are accepted.

It's a straight fight between BN's Roslan Ahmad and PAS' Yuhaizad Abdullah in Merlimau.

NONE 11.28am: Kerdau - Returning officer Tariff Abdul Rahman announces that the March 6 by-election will see a straight fight between Umno's Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad and PAS' Hassanuddin Salim.

11.35am: Merlimau - The objection from PAS against the BN candidate pertained to the Roslan Ahmad's position in a GLC (government-linked company).

"His occupation was listed as 'none' but there was no resignation letter, but the BN side later informed us that the letter has already been sent to his employers," said PAS secretary general Mustafa Ali.

BN filed two objections against PAS - one regarding his address being outside of Merlimau and another about his voter registration.

NONE PAS candidate Yuhaizad Abdullah ( photo in green sarong ) said that his message to voters is "I have the rakyat in my heart".

Meanwhile, BN candidate Roslan Ahmad ( photo, in blue shirt ), during a short banter with journalists, concedes that his family's political background will boost his chances of winning. He says he welcomes such pedigree advantage.

"I don't mind, however I have my own capacity and advantage."

He says he is confident of victory but refuses to be drawn into estimating his winning majority.

NONE

  11.39am: Merlimau - The local Chinese community presents "Melaka Merlimau By-election Suqiu" to both BN and PAS candidates. Malacca CM Mohd Ali Rustam promises to help, but with a condition.

"OK, kami akan tolong, menang baru cakap (We will help, but we can talk about this only after we win)," he says before leaving with Roslan Ahmad.

The list of four demands includes fair treatment of all vernacular schools including religious schools in terms of government funding and the recognition of the examination certificates issued by Chinese private institutions.

11.40am: Supporters from both sides in both Kerdau and Merlimau begin to disperse. 

The eight-day campaign for the two by-elections is now in full swing. Polling day is on Sunday, March 6.

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEOS

Kerdau l 6.40 mins

Merlimau l 7.40 mins