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Lacklustre campaign in Kuala Besut on Day 2
Published:  Jul 13, 2013 11:22 AM
Updated: Jul 14, 2013 3:26 AM

DAY 2 KUALA BESUT Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place in the run-up to July 24 Kuala Besut by-election.


11.30pm: There is a poor turnout at a PAS ceramah at Kamping Nangka tonight.

Only about 100 people are present despite the appearance of PAS top guns such as election director Dr Hatta Ramli, central committee member Dzulkefly Ahmad, and Selangor deputy chief Khalid Samad, and party candidate Azlan Yusof.

The ceramah is held at the yard of a local resident, and the sound system faces outward to cover the rest of the village.

With the otherwise quiet night, the speeches can be heard over a distance of hundreds of metres.

Also present at the venue are some 20 police personnel.

4.15pm - Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said pledges 500 units of affordable housing for Kuala Besut if BN wins.

"With a large comfortable victory that Kuala Besut voters will give, God willing, we will build 500 more units of houses in Kuala Besut," he says to an audience of 200.

He is making a speech at the launch of a RM10.35 million project to build 72 units of affordable housing in Kuala Besut, which he says brings the number affordable housing built by the government over the past five years to 10,020 units.

However, he denies that the launch was only done for the by-election, since it has already started even while the previous Kuala Besut assemblyperson Dr A Rahman Mokhtar was still alive.

He also denies allegations that the BN candidate Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman had been in Putrajaya and not back home in Kuala Besut for a long time, saying that he was only transferred there three months ago.

12.45pm: PAS secretary-general Mustaffa Ali claims that its candidate Azlan Yusof is known as a down-to-earth person amongst villagers, whereas his opponent Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman appears rather alien.

kuala besut 130713 mustaffa ali However, he laments that this is not accurately reflected in the media, which gives much praise to Tengku Zaihan instead of Azlan.

"This is what we heard (from the ground). We have heard much more that is not too positive, but I don't want to say it.

"You (the press) as people living among the community should be able to pick this up," he said at the Kuala Besut PAS election headquarters.

Both BN and Pakatan Rakyat appear to be exercising restraint and not overtly criticising their opposing camp, often citing the holy month of Ramadan as the reason.

12.30pm: BN candidate Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman and his wife visits the home of former Kuala Besut state assemblyperson Dr A Rahman Mokhtar.

During the 20 minute visit, A Rahman's wife Azizah N Omar delivered some words of encouragement to Tengku Zaihan.

"My husband once said that we should find a candidate with academic credentials... Tengku Zaihan is the perfect fit," she said.

To this, Tengku Zaihan replied that he had met A Rahman prior to his death.

"He said that I will be the candidate (one day)... I didn't realise he would be brought back (to the creator) so fast," he said.

10.35am: PAS candidate Azlan Yusof visits Kuala Besut distribution market to meet and greet traders and their customers.

He is dressed in a rustic-coloured checked shirt, grey pants and a dark green ‘kopiah’ (skull cap), but there is no indication he is from PAS or a candidate of the July 24 by-election.

azlan yusof pas candidate kuala besut by-election traders Azlan, who is well-known among the locals as “Che Long”, is accompanied by a team of security guards, but no campaign workers are seen with him.

When approached by the media, Azlan declined to be interviewed, saying that he wants to focus on campaigning for now.

According to him, he is feeling very tired since becoming a  candidate in the by-election for the Terengganu state seat.

“If you are the one who is the candidate, you will feel what I am feeling right now,” he says.

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