DAY 9 | PN queries cost of alleged BN helicopter

DAY 9 | It’s day nine and we’re inching closer to polling day for Nenggiri.

On Aug 17, BN candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani and Perikatan Nasional’s Mohd Rizwadi Ismail will battle it out for the state seat.

Malaysiakini reports live from the ground.

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This concludes the ninth day of campaigning in the Nenggiri by-election.

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Annuar questions cost of alleged BN copter

9pm: Perikatan Nasional by-election operations director Annuar Musa questioned the costs involved in hiring a helicopter which purportedly transported a BN component party leader to Nenggiri today.

Taking to Facebook, he did not name the leader but shared a photograph of the helicopter that landed on an empty field.

“Somebody asked me how much is the cost to use a helicopter per day?

“I said ‘I don’t know’. I had to contact my ‘classmate’ who is a commercial helicopter pilot,” said Annuar.

Based on an image of the helicopter, he claimed he was informed of two options - RM145,000 for a maximum capacity of five passengers, or RM390,000 for a larger model and more passengers.

Harapan crew knocks on doors

The Pakatan Harapan campaign team in Nenggiri is making door-to-door visits to meet with locals and to understand their most pressing needs.

Its by-election director of operations Adly Zahari says instead of just making speeches, engaging with voters face to face allows the team to hear real problems.

“When we go door to door, hold group talks and dialogue sessions at the voting district centre, they are closer to us... ceramah is one-way talk, we talk but the community doesn’t talk,” Bernama reports him as saying.

Adly, who is also the deputy defence minister, says his side is also focusing on meeting fence-sitters, who make up around six to seven percent of voters, to convey information about the coalition government.

“There are many perceptions about the government, so our role is to explain what the government has done because we only want to look after the welfare and needs of the people,” he adds.

PN desperate for Orang Asli votes

1.45pm: Gua Musang - BN election campaign deputy director Mohd Syahbuddin Hashim sees Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin’s appeal for Orang Asli constituents to split their votes as a sign of desperation.

Syahbuddin, instead, advises the Orang Asli balloters to throw their full support behind BN’s Azmawi.

“Previously, they (PN) didn’t care at all about the matters pertaining to the Orang Asli community. Even in the state legislative assembly, there wasn’t any significant additional budget allocated to the community.

“I received reports from local leaders that they (PN) have promised the moon and the stars.

“But we (BN) don’t make such promises. Instead, we will make fair considerations for the Orang Asli community,” he says in a press conference in Bukit Cekatin today.

Yesterday, Hamzah proposed the split votes strategy to the Orang Asli community, saying it was to ensure that no one takes the community’s woes lightly.

Outgoing Nenggiri rep supports BN

1pm: Gua Musang - Galas assemblyperson Mohd Syahbuddin Hashim says outgoing Nenggiri assemblyperson Mohd Azizi Abu Naim is behind BN.

When asked about Azizi’s absence during the Nenggiri campaign, Syahbuddin explains that the Gua Musang MP supports BN.

“At the initial stage when he said he would support the BN candidate, I invited him to campaign as well, but so far he has done it behind the scenes.

“I met with his family who stated that Azizi supports the BN candidate, Azmawi. He has asked his family members to campaign for Azmawi too,” Syahbuddin says during a press conference in Bukit Cekati, Gua Musang, today.

Syahbuddin adds that BN campaign director Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah will begin his campaign on Tuesday (Aug 13).

“Ku Li will start going down to the ground from the 13th,” he says of the Umno veteran who was MP in the area (representing Ulu Kelantan, then Gua Musang) from 1974 to 2022.

PAS candidate talks up Orang Asli support

11am: Gua Musang - PAS candidate Mohd Rizwadi Ismail is confident of the Orang Asli’s support for the party in Nenggiri, saying that the community has now accepted their presence, unlike in previous elections.

“Thank God, the support for Perikatan Nasional is positive,” he says after holding a meeting with the Orang Asli in Kampung Langsat, Gua Musang.

Rizwadi adds that issues affecting the Orang Asli community will be his focus if he is appointed the Nenggiri assemblyperson.

“If given the mandate, I will highlight and bring the issues and voices of the Orang Asli to the state government directly,” he says.

Yesterday, Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin called on Orang Asli voters to split their support for PAS and BN candidates, so that no party could play games with the indigenous community.

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