SG BESAR, K KANGSAR POLLS| LIVE BLOG DAY 1 With nomination for both the seats having ended at 10am, the contesting parties and candidates will now hit the campaign trail until the stroke of midnight on July 17. Polling will take place the following morning.

The parliament seats are touted as a litmus test for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in view of the allegations against him and the 1MDB fiasco, as well as with his arch nemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad also intending to campaign.

Apart from this, the contests will also reveal if the problems plaguing the opposition coalition have eroded support and whether Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) can serve as a replacement for PAS.

Follow our LIVE BLOG as the Malaysiakini team brings you the news as it takes place.

Budiman gives aid to Bilal whose house caught fire

12AM Sungai Besar: Budiman arrives at Musolli's house shortly before midnight, bringing along assistance in the form of emergency supplies.

Among others, he brings a foldable mattress and pillows for them to sleep tonight.

He also personally offers RM10,000 in immediate assistance and promises that the Welfare Department will look into repairs of the house.

He spends some time talking to Musolli before the arrival of Selangor BN chief Noh Omar.

Noh promises that further aid with regards to the house repairs will be determined tomorrow morning.

Earlier, Amanah candidate Azhar Abdul Shukur also arrives for a quick visit, before proceeding to other ceramah functions.







Budiman mingles with voters during tarawikh prayers

10.30PM, Masjid Nurul Hidayah, Sg Besar: Nightfall marks the first day of Ramadan in the Muslim lunar calendar.

While politicking in Selangor mosques has been forbidden by royal decree, candidates are expected to take advantage of nightly tarawih prayers during the fasting month to get closer to voters.

BN candidate Budiman Mohd Zohdi is doing just that, meeting and greeting voters, and joining them for a drink after taking part in the prayers.



Bilal's house caught fire on eve of Ramadan

10PM, Sungai Besar: As he prepares to make the first call for terawih prayers this year, 63-year-old Musolli Resad finds out that his house in Kampung Sungai Limau here is on fire.

"I was shocked because I have two children at home," says Musolli who is a bilal and imam at nearby Al-Hashimiah mosque.

He arrives at about 9pm as the Fire and Rescue Department team on the scene, in two trucks are dousing the flames that is believed to have started from the back of the raised two-storey wooden house.



From his own estimation, Musolli says three rooms were destroyed - along with his passport, documents and cash amounting to RM2,000.

"Usually before every Ramadhan I would take out money from the bank.

"I am an old man. I can't be going back and forth to the bank," he says.

For tonight, Musolli says the family will seek temporary shelter at his younger brother's house in Taman Seri Bedena.

Musolli's wife, Juminah Rusdi, is a tailor who has been taking orders for the upcoming Hari Raya celebration.

Also lost to the fire were all the fabric she collected from her customers.

Juminah was seen crying and hugging her daughter Siti Aina Atikah, who was at the house when the fire started.

She says she starts to smell smoke sometime after the Isya' Prayer.

In total there are five people staying at the house. There were no injuries or lives loss and the fire is completely doused after about 25 minutes.

Hadi: MCA campaigning against hudud as it fears the DAP

7PM Kampung Baru Jerlun, Kuala Kangsar: Hadi claims the MCA move to campaign against hudud shows the party fears the DAP.

"This shows that MCA and Gerakan still fear DAP. The fact is they shouldn't as they are consistant in BN parties .

"To me, MCA and Gerakan are better than DAP as they observe decorum in their relationship with Muslim.

"They object (our private member bill on Act 355) through the media without obstructing us from tabling a motion in Parliament," he says.

He adds it is up to these BN parties leaders to decide if they want to keep their ministeral posts.

'If Chinese accepts socialism and capitalism, why not Islam?'

6.30PM, Kampung Baru Jerlun, Kuala Kangsar: Hadi tells the Chinese to accept hudud and the concept of mixing religion with politics.

"Hudud is gentle, it advocates against fighting with others. This is in line with our Asian culture," he says.

"Non-Muslim can accept socialism, capitalism and all sort of political theories that were not from China and India, they are from Europe.

"Karl Marx, Lenin, (Joseph) Stalin and Adam Smith were Europeons. They were not Chinese, Malays and Indians. Why can't they accept politics in the Islamic way without being a Muslim?" he asks.

In his 30-minute speech, Hadi highlights the misconceptions against hudud mostly identified with the chopping of limbs, he argues instead that it is a law that is meant as a deterrant and has high standards of evidence which makes for difficult conviction.

PAS reaches out to Chinese voters, explains hudud

5.30PM Kampung Baru Jerlun, Kuala Kangsar: PAS ventures into Kampung Baru Jerlun, the only Chinese new village in the constituency, to hold a talk with the Chinese community as it promotes its candidate and Islamic penal code, hudud.

Held at a local Muslim restaurant, the PAS talk also serves food to the Chinese crowd, mostly the elderly who attends the function.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang joins Perak PAS commissioner Razman Zakaria and PAS candidate Dr. Najihatussalehah Ahmad at the talk.

Najihatusallehah, who operates a private clinic, promises she will open a service centre in Kuala Kangsar if she wins.

While Razman emphasises the advantage of hudud law, saying that the people can walk on the streets safely even without police.

He also says that with hudud in place no public official would dare to steal RM2.6 billion.

PAS: Use vote to protest against BN gov't

3.30PM, Kuala Kangsar: PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad calls for the constituents to vote in protest against BN over the 1MDB fiasco and other policies like the goods and service tax (GST) which do not favour the people.

He also points a finger at wastage and leakages in the government.

"We hope the people will send a signal to the government that they realise what is going on. This will serve as an indicator for the next general election," he says.

However, PAS will not resort to the politics of baseless allegations in the campaign, he pledges.

Idris Ahmad is the election director of PAS in the royal town.

MCA to campaign against Hudud Bill in twin by-elections
 

3PM, Sekinchan, Sungai Besar: MCA president Liow Tiong Lai and the BN candidate Budiman goes for a walkabout at several Chinese-majority areas around Sekinchan, one of the two state seats under Sungai Besar.
 
One of their stops was at the Nan Thian Kong Chinese temple, which overlooks the scenic panorama of theSekinchan paddy fields.

Liow later tells the reporters the contentious 'Hudud Bill' issue is one which he will be addressing with the Chinese voters. 
 
"I am asking for support from the Chinese voters here and in Kuala Kangsar to give the MCA the strength to resolve this issue," he says.
 
Budiman, on the other hand, says PAS is the one to explain the issue as the motion to amend Act 355 was tabled by its president.
 
"PAS is (also) the one that betrays support given by voters from all races," says the Sungai Panjang assemblyperson.
 
At the temple, Liow, Budiman and other local MCA leaders also launches the party's official truck for the ongoing campaign.

PAS has no issue with Azmin appearing at nomination centre

1.30PM, Simpang Lima, Sungai Besar: Several PAS leaders say there is no issue with Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali making an appearance at the nomination centre this morning.

PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man says it is "standard practice" for a menteri besar to come and meet with all of them.

"I saw that he came as an MB and went to (the tents) of all contesting parties. It is standard practice for a 'host' and he also said he came as MB (not PKR deputy president)," discloses Tuan Ibrahim.

PAS Selangor commissioner Iskandar Samad says it is not a problem for PKR to be supporting Amanah and also work with PAS in the state government.

"I don't see this as a problem, but a test of political maturity in Malaysia.

"This is already happening in other countries like the UK where there is a unity government between two political parties," he explains.

Meanwhile, PAS candidate and Meru assemblyperson Dr Abdul Rani Osman says the party currently has close to 6,000 volunteers in Sungai Besar, both from the area and also across Selangor.

DPM approves RM100,000 allocation Sg Besar entrepreneurs

1PM, SJKC Sin Min, Sg Besar: Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi approves an RM100,000 allocation for women entrepreneurs in Sungai Besar.

The allocation is for the local Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) entrepreneurs club's fund, which gives loans for small businesses.

Earlier in his speech, Zahid jests that he would only make an allocation if support for Sungai Besar BN candidate, Budiman Mohd Zohdi, is strong.

"If there's no support for Zuhdi then I'll only make an allocation after 2018," he quips before asking the 500 women packed into the SJKC Sin Min school hall, to stand up and cheer to show their support for Budiman.

Pakatan Harapan aims to "Free the Rakyat Save Malaysia"

12.30PM, Sungai Besar Amanah branch: The Pakatan Harapan campaign slogan for both the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections will be "Free the Rakyat Save Malaysia".

"This was decided last night as the campaign slogan for both Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar.
We want to free the rakyat from oppressive rule as can be seen in the GST and other economic matters.

"As this is a parliamentary by-election, so we will be taking the national approach. We want to free the minds and the economy of the locals from being controlled and oppressed." says Amanah communications director Khalid Samad in the party's maiden press conference after nominations closes for both constituencies.

Khalid adds that Harapan welcomes the presence of ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad and anyone who opposes the BN in their campaign, in particular he hopes that the good doctor will prescribe medicine that will cure some of the Malay of their chronic BN fixation.

"We welcome them. The challenge we face is in getting Malay votes are most are very loyal to Umno and BN.

"So in order to break the Malay votes, maybe Mahathir will help to open the minds of the Malays who prior to this look to Umno and BN as those that can do no wrong," opines the Amanah leader.

Ikatan to assist PAS in both by-elections

12.15PM: Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia president Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir pledges to mobilise 500 members to assist PAS machinery in both Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar.

"We will coordinate our strategy with the local PAS machinery, and see whether it is best to go door to door or use other ways.

"The main issue is simple. The people are facing a lot of problems, but the government is seen to worry only about its own problems," says Kadir during a press conference at PAS operations centre.

He adds if the people continued to vote for BN, its candidate will go to Parliament and take care of its leaders, but not the people

Ambiga pledges support for Amanah candidate

11.00PM, Sungai Besar: After nomination closes, Amanah supporters set up a makeshift stage on a truck, parked on the roadside a short distance from Dewan Bernam

Among the speakers are former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan and PKR Kapar MP G Manivannan.

Taking to the microphone, Ambiga says she is supporting the Amanah candidate Azhar Abdul Shukor because Amanah backs the Citizens’ Declaration.

"I support Amanah because they support the call to remove Najib. I support Amanah because they support institutional reforms," she adds.

[More to follow]