PD POLLS | DAY 14 | It is the final 24 hours of campaigning for the seven candidates running in the Port Dickson by-election.
Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the campaigning on the ground.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Anwar draws 500-strong crowd, road to hall jammed for 1km
- Modest start to Anwar’s grand finale
- DPM campaigns for Anwar; Electoral Reforms chief says it's not proper
- Syed Saddiq claims he's not there campaigning as a minister
- Danyal says he was ‘ready to sacrifice’, not running away
- PAS not convinced by survey results that Anwar will win
- 'Jom Undi PAS', reads a banner with Umno logo
- Anwar attends co-operative programme with NS teachers
12.05am – This wraps up Malaysiakini's daily blog on the Port Dickson by-election. Join us at 6pm tomorrow for our live coverage of the vote-tallying process.
Anwar urges non-voters to stay away
11.40pm Bagan Pinang – Anwar Ibrahim asks voters to give him a huge mandate to become the Port Dickson MP tomorrow.
He also urges non-voters not to come to Port Dickson because the town is small and cannot accomodate large amounts of traffic.
"People from outside Port Dickson, don't come tomorrow. Let the people in Port Dickson go to the polling stations," he says.
He says reiterates that no public funds and government resources were used during the entire campaign.
Anwar: I've paid all the traffic fines
11.30pm Bagan Pinang – Anwar Ibrahim says all the traffic summonses in his name, including ones racked up by his children when he was in jail, have been cleared.
He was responding to a report by The Star citing one Mujahidin Zulkifli claiming that Anwar has 57 unpaid traffic tickets amounting to RM8,000.
"The summons have been are cleared," he tells the 500-strong crowd at his final ceramah in Bagan Pinang tonight.
Anwar draws Malay crowd, road to hall jammed for 1km
10.30pm Bagan Pinang – Some 500 people, mostly Malays, turn out at the grand finale ceramah at Dewan Bagan Pinang.
Young people, believed to have returned home to vote tomorrow, form the bulk of the attendees.
They are waiting for Anwar Ibrahim who is expected to deliver his speech by 11.30pm.
The road heading towards the Dewan Bagan Pinang has been jammed approximately for 1km.
Bagan Pinang is one of five state seats of Port Dickson that are held by BN.
Speakers include Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali and Youth and Sport Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
Earlier, Azmin touched about the Felda scandal, on which he said the government is forced to table white paper in Parliament.
Those who are responsible for the scandal will face the music, he said.
Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq, while campaigning for Anwar, urged voters in Port Dickson to exercise after casting their ballots.
"Tomorrow is national sports day, so don't forget to go exercise after you vote," he says.
Former Port Dickson MP Danyal Balagopal Abdullah urges voters in Port Dickson give Anwar a huge mandate.
"I appeal to the voters to come out to vote early tomorrow as it often rains in the evening. If you can, (give Anway) a bigger majority than (what you gave) me," he says.
He said that he believes that with his sacrifice by resigning as MP, the people will have a bigger gain.
Anwar Ibrahim arrives at the hall, to huge cheers from the crowd.
Enthusiastic reception for Anwar
10.15pm Kampung Sawah – A mixed crowd of over 200 people enthusiastically greets Pakatan Harapan’s candidate Anwar Ibrahim after he arrives.
It takes him a few minutes to reach the stage as many people clamour to shake hands with him and take pictures with him.
In his speech, Anwar urges outsiders not to add to the traffic in Port Dickson tomorrow during polling hours.
“Outsiders, please keep your cars (off the roads), don’t go anywhere.
“Do not add to the traffic (because) we want to prioritise Port Dickson voters so that they can vote comfortably,” he said.
He leaves right after his speech, just as his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail arrives to give her speech.
Modest start to Anwar’s grand finale
9.20pm Linggi – The Pakatan Harapan grand finale ceramahs in Linggi (9.30pm), Chuah (10.30pm) and Bagan Pinang (11.30pm), get off to a slow start.
Hardly 300 people are at the Linggi event when Anwar Ibrahim arrives. Linggi and Bagan Pinang are state seats held by BN.
Besides Anwar, Bersatu MP for Muar Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, PKR MP for Hang Tuah Jaya Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin, Amanah MP for Temerloh Mohd Anuar Tahir and Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will take to the stage to help the campaign in its final hours.
Hundreds of red plastic chairs remain empty when Anwar delivers his speech and some in the crowd start to leave once the candidate departs.
While the PD Waterfront saw a 3,000-strong crowd when Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad campaigned for Anwar on Oct 8, only 100 supporters turned up at his 9pm grand finale.
DPM campaigns for Anwar; Electoral Reforms chief says it's not proper
6.30pm: Kampung Jimah Baru – Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail says she took leave to campaign for her husband, Anwar Ibrahim, in Port Dickson.
"I took leave today," she said when attending a tea session hosted by a PKR supporter at the latter's house in Kampung Jimah Baru, 30 minutes away from Port Dickson town.
Earlier today, Electoral Reform Committee chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said it is not proper for Wan Azizah to campaign for Anwar in her capacity as deputy prime minister.
Syed Saddiq says he's not campaigning as a minister
5.50pm: Dewan Bagan Pinang – Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman is immediately greeted by the party members when he arrives for a hangout session.
He is then swept into a selfie session with about 30 women of varying ages.
Syed Saddiq, who is also the Youth and Sports Minister, said he is not here in his capacity as a minister but as a party leader.
“If you see, I have given leave to my driver and bodyguard.
“They did not follow me, I also used my own car,” he said.
He was seen earlier arriving in a silver Honda City car.
Danyal says he was ‘ready to sacrifice’, not running away
4.30pm: Glory Beach Resort, Taman Tanjung – The “Afternoon with the Armed Forces Veterans” event generated a lukewarm response, with a turnout of 250 people. The hall for the function had 1,500 seats.
Before Anwar Ibrahim’s arrival, 10 rows of chairs were removed. He was accompanied by the former MP for Port Dickson, Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, who is a retired military personnel.
"I am an armed forces veteran. I served for 40 years. But I wonder why I have been labelled as a ‘traitor’, which is a very strong and hurtful word.
"I have been upholding the motto of the Navy which is 'ready to sacrifice'.
"Definitely, I value very much the mandate and the big majority that was given to me in GE14. I'd like to say a thousand times, thank you," Danyal said.
He stressed that giving way for Anwar to return to Parliament doesn't mean that he is running away. Instead, he said that he will stay in the constituency and help Anwar take care of the people.
Meanwhile, Anwar told the crowd that he had held a discussion with Defence Minister Mohammad Sabu about the welfare of armed forces veterans but he is unable to announce anything during the election campaign period.
PAS not convinced by survey results that Anwar will win
1.30pm: Port Dickson – Institute Darul Ehsan's survey that claims Pakatan Harapan candidate Anwar Ibrahim is on track to defeating his opponents in the Port-Dickson by-election is questionable.
In saying this, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said if that were the case, Anwar wouldn't be going all out during the campaign period.
"On my way here (to the PAS operations centre), I saw Anwar campaigning at a coffeeshop.
"If he were confident of winning based on the IDE study, why would he have to resort to tireless campaigning?
"Even (independent candidate) Stevie (Chan Keng Leong) has not campaigned as much as Anwar," Takiyuddin said during a press conference at the PAS operations centre.
'Jom Undi PAS', reads a banner with Umno logo
12pm: Jalan Bakar Sampah – A banner bearing an Umno logo and the message "Jom! Undi PAS" is spotted along Jalan Bakar Sampah, which is the main road which connects to the Port Dickson bypass.
The small blue banner is tied next to a large poster of PAS candidate Mohd Nazari Mokhtar.
However, Port Dickson Umno division chief Mohd Faizal denied that the banner was put up by his party members.
"We, Umno or Barisan Nasional, are not involved in any election campaign in Port Dickson.
"I only knew about the existence of the banner with the Umno logo when you told me about it," Mohd Faizal told Malaysiakini.
Meanwhile, a small group of people are seen at the T-junction holding green balloons and cardboard signs urging voters to support PAS. Some motorists honk to show their support.
Anwar attends cooperative programme with NS teachers
10am: Glory Beach Resort, Taman Tanjung – Pakatan Harapan candidate Anwar Ibrahim meets about 100 teachers, who are from all over the state, at the Special Programme of Business Development of the Negeri Sembilan School Cooperatives.
Today being the last day of the campaign, Anwar begins his campaign at 8am and spends about 10 minutes at this event.
He chats with the educators, and sharing a light moment, he lifts one of their handbags and jokes that it looks similar to one of the exclusive handbags of former premier Najib Razak's wife, Rosmah Mansor, drawing laughter from the attendees.
The teachers also take selfies and wefies with Anwar.
The host of the event reminds attendees who are Port Dickson voters to go out and cast their votes early tomorrow.
