Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the BN has now been accepted again by the majority compared to the support given to the opposition in the last general election because the BN policies are now better understood and transparent.

He said during the last general election, the opposition had gained the people's support because of the lies and political manipulations spread by the opposition but the situation had now changed with the BN gaining more support lately.

"I notice that the situation now favours the ruling party. Insyallah, this will continue because the voters have returned to the truth (currently) compared to the sweet promises which were not fulfilled by the opposition," he told reporters after the completion of the nomination process for the by-election for the Malacca state constituency of Merlimau, at the Dewan Politeknik Merlimau, in Jasin today.

Ahmad Zahid and Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam together with leaders of the other BN component parties including Gerakan president Dr Koh Tsu Koon and MIC president G Palanivel had earlier accompanied the BN candidate, Roslan Ahmad, to the nomination centre.

    

NONE Roslan, 44, will face PAS candidate Yuhaizad Abullah, 38, in a straight fight for the Merlimau state seat which fell vacant following the death of the incumbent assemblyman, Mohamad Hidhir Abu Hassan, 54, on Jan 20 following a heart attack.

Ahmad Zahid, when asked on the same national issues raised by the opposition, namely the rise in the price of goods and Apco, said he believed these two issues would be among the 'long list' used by the opposition as campaign materials.

"I feel we need not be too defensive in responding to these issues because the people in Merlimau will not be influenced by the issues which are repeated over and over again," he said, adding that what was important were local issues faced and to be tackled by the BN machinery in the by-election.

Majority of Indian voters in the bag

Meanwhile, Palanivel said the MIC would focus on the support of the Indian community for the BN in the by-election so that it would at least be the same as in the last by-election in the Tenang state constituency.

NONE "I was made to understand about 75 percent of the Indian voters supported the BN in Tenang and we will try to maintain this percentage in Merlimau too," he said.

He said the MIC party machinery at the national level, including the Wanita and Youth wings, had identified more than 1,200 voters in Merlimau out of the total of 1,569 Indian voters and they would redouble efforts to woo the people to vote for the BN.

    

Information Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim said he was confident that the people in Merlimau would give their solid support to the BN candidate.

azlan "The Chinese and Indian communities, who form the minority here, are also giving good support... although it is not 100 percent but we are hoping for a strong victory," he told reporters after presenting contributions to members of the Malaysian Ex-policemen Association at the Dewan Serbaguna Merlimau Timur.

Umno Youth vice-head Razali Ibrahim said the selection of a young candidate to stand in the by-election was among the transformation carried out by the BN in the party.

"The young candidate fielded in the by-elections such as in Tenang, Kerdau and Merlimau would give an advantage and the young voters who form 38 percent of the electorate can contribute to the support given by the older generation," he said.

Changes in Middle East may help

    

Meanwhile, PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa acknowledged that the party would face an uphill battle to penetrate Merlimau which was one of the BN strongholds.

Nonetheless, he said PAS would go all out to face the challenges besides fielding a local who was known to the constituents.

NONE "There are to many issues in the country and, in fact, I can also feel the winds of change arising from the developments in the Middle East which would also have a slight impact on the by-election in Merlimau," he told reporters after the nomination process.

Nasharudin, together with PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Malacca PAS commissioner Abdul Ghani Abdul Rahman and Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had earlier accompanied Yuhaizad to the nomination centre.

Wan Azizah concurred with Nasharudin that the opposition would face endless  obstacles and challenges.

"We know it will not be easy, but this does not mean that we are giving up. We must put up a strong challenge to the BN so that we can get closer to the voters to make changes," she said.

- Bernama