DAY 2 | Takiyuddin: 'Elder sister' PAS helping 'sibling' Bersatu

DAY 2 | Things are still warming up as the campaign for the Nenggiri by-election enters its second day. It will be a straight fight between BN candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani and Perikatan Nasional’s Mohd Rizwadi Ismail.

Malaysiakini reports live from the ground.

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This concludes the first day of the Nenggiri by-election campaign.

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Just ‘siblings’ helping each other - Takiyuddin

11am: PAS’ move to nominate former Gua Musang PAS Youth deputy leader Mohd Rizwadi Ismail as its Nenggiri candidate is akin to “an elder sister helping a sibling”.

“Both Bersatu and PAS are ‘siblings’ under the Perikatan Nasional family.

“PAS is the ‘elder sister’ while Bersatu is our ‘sibling’. Just that the ‘sibling’ has a huge rubber plantation but lacks ‘male offsprings’, so the latter asks the ‘elder sister’ for help by seeking our ‘male offspring’.

“As the ‘elder sister’, of course, PAS will help and this is the situation in Nenggiri,” PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan said yesterday at Kampung Bertan Lama, Gua Musang.

He says this amid criticism over Rizwadi switching from PAS to Bersatu just about 24 hours before being announced as PN’s candidate.

PN contender: I'm the ideal candidate

10.30am: Mohd Rizwadi Ismail describes himself as the “ideal" candidate for Perikatan Nasional while campaigning in Bertam Baru, Gua Musang last night.

Rizwadi, who courted controversy by leaving PAS for Bersatu, says he was a representative of PN contesting on a PAS ticket.

He adds that he is not a stranger to the people of Bertam and also the community of Nenggiri who know him well.

“Ore Bertam (local folk) knows how many minutes I spend in the area,” Riswadi says.

Umno veteran views PAS’ act as despicable

9.30am: Umno Veterans’ Club secretary Mustapha Yaakub says that PAS seems to have “prostituted” its former Gua Musang PAS Youth deputy head to fulfil its “political lust” in Nenggiri.

“The voters and supporters of Nenggiri PAS are advised not to collude with the PAS leadership who have openly ‘mortgaged’ the party's dignity as they are willing to ‘sell’ its (former) Gua Musang PAS Youth deputy leader to Bersatu to run as a Perikatan Nasional candidate in the by-election.

“That act is despicable both from the perspective of Islam and the political tradition of PAS - which claims to be an Islamic political party that fights on the basis of Islam.

“It can be interpreted as if PAS ‘prostituted’ its deputy youth leader to Bersatu to satisfy the latter’s lust,” he tells Malaysiakini.

Mustapha says this amid reports that PN’s candidate Mohd Rizwadi Ismail jumped ship from PAS to Bersatu about 24 hours before being announced as their candidate.

Ku Li backs Azmawi as best man for the job

9am: BN’s Nenggiri election director Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is confident Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani can represent the constituency effectively if he wins the seat on Aug 17.

“Alhamdulillah, the candidate nomination process went smoothly and we from BN agreed to choose Azmawi or Awi as the candidate for the N.43 Nenggiri state by-election.

“I’m personally confident and believe in Awi’s ability to represent Nenggiri in the state assembly this time.

“Let’s come together to support our candidate Awi on Aug 17,” he says on his Facebook yesterday.

Azmawi, who is also Kelantan Umno youth leader, took up the challenge to reclaim the seat.

The Nenggiri state assembly by-election is being held following an unexpected vacancy after the incumbent, Mohd Azizi Abu Naim, was declared to have lost his membership in Bersatu on June 13.

In the state election held in August last year, Azizi won by a majority of 810 votes when he got 6,517 votes, compared to the BN candidate, Ab Aziz Yusoff who got 5,707 votes.

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