VIDEO | 1.32 min

PAS vice-president Husam Musa is “not confident” about his chances against BN in the federal administrative capital Putrajaya, but when quizzed on why he would take such a risk, the answer was sitting on the tip of his tongue.

azlan “High risk, high returns,” he quipped without missing a beat at his press conference in Putrajaya today.

Speaking to a room-full of reporters, Husam said that in fact, his bid in Putrajaya has a symbolic meaning.

“Putrajaya is not about this town, bridges and roads. It’s about the federal capital.

“Even if Putrajaya is at the bottom of the Malacca Straits, I will contest there,” he said.

“Putrajaya is where the creme of society is at, and I am merely hitching on the wisdom of these people.”

Lauding his likely opponent, incumbent MP Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Husam said that he is merely an "ant" next to an "elephant", but “sometimes ants can topple elephants if they work hard".

"Tengku Adnan has already said that he will get the support of two-thirds of the people here, and I am afraid," he admitted.

Husam will also be defending the Kelantan state seat of Salor, where he hopes his track record will be viewed favourably.

“There 60 flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kelantan daily, so it is not a problem,” he said, adding that Salor is where his home is.

On the second day of his campaign, Husam - who is part of the Kelantan caretaker government - said that he is surprised with the openness of the civil servants whom he had met on his walkabouts and ceramahs.

Inside info from civil servants

In his walkabout this morning, he was stopped at the National Registration Department (NRD) by some civil servants in uniform who took pictures with him.

"It shows that they are not afraid," he said, dismissing the suggestion that most of those who approached him are Kelantanese, and not voters of Putrajaya.

"Senior civil service officers have also made appointments to meet me. So we will be getting inside information," he added.

Most he met had complained of rising cost of living and this, he said, could be addressed in parts by introducing a hire-purchase policy for shop owners.

"Everyday goods are expensive because these premises are hired at a high rate, and at times, via middlemen.

NONE "I will write to Perbadanan Putrajaya president Aseh Che Mat ( left ) to propose a hire-purchase scheme so vendors can sell goods at a lower price," he said.

He also proposed  the abolition of the four percent service fee charged to civil servants who take up loans from the government.

He claimed that this will assist in increasing disposable income, particular among the support staff.

"In Kelantan, we abolished this in 1990 and we did not run into any financial difficulty," he said.

"If Pakatan wins, I will propose that we abolish this immediately, but for existing loans, we will set up a committee to review the implications and if it is not burdensome to the government, it should be scrapped, particularly for the support staff."

He said among the other complaints which he received included a promise of a sekolah agama in 2011, purportedly by caretaker education minister Muhyiddin Yassin, which has yet to be fulfilled.

He claimed that the school is now squatting in the premises of a primary school.

BN's Tengku Adnan defeated PAS's Mohammad Nor Mohamad in 2008 with about three-quarters of the total vote. But his majority dropped by about 1,000 votes, as compared with the 2004 general election.

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