PD POLLS DAY 2 | The seven candidates running in the Port Dickson by-election will embark upon their first full day of campaigning today.
After the nomination yesterday, Pakatan Harapan candidate Anwar Ibrahim concentrated his efforts on the two BN-held state constituencies under Port Dickson, as did independent candidate Mohd Isa Abdul Samad.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the campaigning on the ground.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Hadi: PAS will campaign without Umno's help
- PAS candidate greets in Bengali
- Hadi attends first ceramah by PAS
- Ex-MIC veep turns out for Anwar
- Isa leading PD polls by one vote
- 'Compulsory' attendance at Anwar event
- PKR issues preemptive 'fake news' warning
12am: Thank you for following our live updates of day two of the Port Dickson by-election campaign. This thread is now closed.
Hadi: PAS will campaign without Umno's help
11.30pm: Teluk Kemang - PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang stressed that the party will be campaigning in the Port Dickson by-election without Umno’s help.
“No, we are alone. Umno already released a statement forbidding its members from coming down to campaign.
“But when it comes to voting, that is a different story. We hope they will vote for us,” Hadi said in a press conference.
The press conference was held after PAS’ first ceramah perdana in this by-election, which featured Hadi as the main speaker.
In the previous two by-elections contested by Umno and PAS, the two parties had informally helped each other’s campaigns.
PAS candidate greets in Bengali
10.10pm: Teluk Kemang - PAS candidate for Port Dickson Mohd Nazari Mokhtar speaks at the ceramah in the lead-up to the main speaker, party president Abdul Hadi Awang.
He greets the Malay-majority crowd in various languages, including Mandarin, Tamil, Thai and Bengali.
After his greeting in Bengali, he asks the crowd if there are any Bangladeshis present.
“You never know, there may be some Bangladeshis here who have gotten their documents and become voters.
“We must acknowledge them too,” he quips.
Hadi attends first ceramah by PAS
9.30pm, Teluk Kemang - PAS holds its first public ceramah since the nomination day, featuring president Abdul Hadi Awang.
There are 250 supporters present here.
Negeri Sembilan PAS commissioner Mustaffa Daharun, vice-president Idris Ahmad and others are slated to speak.
The atmosphere is rather lukewarm as the emcee asks the crowd to shout "takbir" and the crowd responding with "Allahuakbar".
In the GE14, PAS got 641 votes in Teluk Kemang polling district, compared to BN's 1,289 and PKR's 1,434.
Ex-MIC veep turns out for Anwar
5pm, Port Dickson - Former MIC vice-president S Sothinathan is set to assist in Anwar Ibrahim's by-election campaign, according to Bernama.
For two terms, Sothinathan was also the MP for Teluk Kemang, the old name of the Port Dickson parliamentary seat.
Sothinathan, who recently quit his old party, said he is throwing his support behind Anwar as he is the best choice to represent voters in Port Dickson.
"Anwar is a capable individual who can bring development and major changes to Port Dickson.
"He will also be able to raise the standard of living of the Indian community not only in the constituency, but the whole country. That's why I give my support to him,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
When asked if he would be joining PKR, Sothinathan only said that he has no plans to do this at the moment.
Isa leading PD polls by one vote
1.30pm: Port Dickson - On just day two of the campaign, independent Port Dickson candidate Mohd Isa Abdul Samad says he is already ahead of the race with one confirmed vote in his corner – his own.
According to The Malaysian Insight, that the former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar says that as a registered voter in the district, he currently has a leg up over his six challengers, including PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim.
Isa, formerly of Umno, also told TMI that it was Umno's failure to hande of the 1MDB affair that saw it ousted from Putrajaya in the last general election.
Yesterday, Isa said that his alleged involvement in several Felda scandals would not hurt his chances at the polls, and was confident that voters would judge him instead on his 40-year track record in the constituency.
'Compulsory' attendance at Anwar event?
12.30pm: Masjid Jamek Pasir Panjang - Despite Pakatan Harapan candidate Anwar Ibrahim pledging not to use government machinery in his campaign for the Port Dickson by-election, it appears that some participants have been compelled to attend an event here.
Anwar is slated to speak on Islamic affairs (tazkirah) Masjid Jamek later this afternoon.
According to a letter sighted by Malaysiakini, the Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Council (Mains) has requested zakat aid recipients (asnaf) to attend a Maal Hijrah Special Programme here at 11.30am.
However, Anwar and Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Amiruddin Harun deny any involvement of government machinery in relation to the aid distribution event.
Harapan issues preemptive 'fake news' warning
11.45am: Pakatan Harapan operations room - PKR strategic communications director Fahmi Fadzil has given an early warning against disinformation or "fake news" going viral on social media.
“There have been such incidences in the past.
“So far there are none specific to this by-election, but I am just giving preemptive warning,” he says in a press conference.
Fahmi urges the public to contact them or check Pakatan Harapan’s official social media accounts if they receive any suspicious information.
Another of Harapan’s campaigning concerns is that many people in Port Dickson over the weekend are not locals.
As such, he said, Harapan candidate Anwar Ibrahim will focus his campaign on more 'door-to-door' programmes and visiting areas frequented by locals.
