Just a day ahead of the Batu Talam by-election, the BN continued to surge ahead in their final efforts to woo support from the voters - they want their candidate to win handsomely.

The ruling coalition has aimed for a higher majority at 3,000 votes as compared to the 2,761 majority obtained by its late representative Tengku Paris Tengku Razlan in the last general election.

Batu Talam has 10,525 registered voters, the majority are Malays.

Asked on his chances of winning, BN candidate Abdul Aziz Mat Kiram said the voters, irregardless of race, have given positive responses to his election campaign.

"This is a favourable indicator for the BN," he told malaysiakini when contacted this afternoon.

Asked on his confidence to obtain a higher majority, Abdul Aziz replied: "The voters are not voting for me, they are voting for BN."

Campaign strategies

In their attempt to win big, BN has not only roped in party heavyweights to campaign for Abdul Aziz, but has also deployed varying campaign strategies, some of which could be considered unethical.

For instance, during a visit to the Ruai Hilir Orang Asli village by a malaysiakini team yesterday, the Umno Perlis campaigning group was there organising a make-up competition for the women and girls in the village.

Those who took part in the competition were given a cosmetic box set. Boxes of biscuits and snacks were also found in a four-wheel drive belonging to the campaigning team but it is not known whether they were meant for the villagers.

One election worker also changed a RM50 note to smaller denomination with a malaysiakini reporter, which according to the former is "to be given out as prizes" for the villagers.

Another Orang Asli from Kampung Pos Buntu, known only as Aili, found a new 'job' during the by-election - to help BN put up posters.

"My group was given RM300 but after dividing the money among us, I only received RM10," claimed the 31-year-old rubber-tapper who lamented that the money was not enough for him.

Apart from that, BN flags, banners and posters were also seen hanging outside several government and state buildings - which is deemed unethical under the Election Commission's (EC) code of ethics.

'Waiting announcement'

Abdul Aziz's rival, independent candidate Ng Chee Pang had protested over the alleged abuse of government machinery by BN such as displaying posters at a government school to the EC and police but to no avail.

Chee Pang asked the EC to disqualify the BN candidate.

In response, the EC said it could not take action against the BN candidate since its code of ethics is a mere guideline and not enforceable.

Met yesterday, Chee Pang also showed malaysiakini several photos that he has submitted to the EC and police earlier in his complaint.

Among others, the photos showed BN election workers using a car belonging to the Pahang Youth and Sports Department while another photo showed a Raub district council's lorry being used to transport chairs allegedly meant for the BN campaign.

Despite all the odds against him, Chee Pang however is still hopeful to be declared the winner tomorow.

He said: "We can't talk about losing, we must talk about victory."

His father and campaign manager, Kwi Ling, added: "This is just like a football match, we let the audience judge whether the referee is fair or not. We will still continue to play in the field, we won't pull out, we are just waiting for the announcement of victory for us."