Campaign heats up in final lap

After a sluggish start, a proper by-election atmosphere appears to be taking shape in Kuala Terengganu, as the campaign period enters its crucial final lap.

On Sunday, party flags were still absent in many major roads. But now, downtown Kuala Terengganu and its surrounding rural areas are awash with blue and green flags.

An unprecedented horde of outstation cars are also bringing traffic in many parts of Kuala Terengganu to a standstill.

Media personnel loitering in the information ministry-sponsored media centre are also becoming a rare sight as wave after wave of top guns from both the ruling Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat are making whirlwind visits to Kuala Terengganu.

Pakatan leaders are sticking to their time-tested method of mixing day-time house-to-house visits and nightly ceramah to campaign for their PAS' candidate Abdul Wahid Endut.

To maximise their coverage, Pakatan leaders often have to speak in two or more functions a night, giving such ceramah a ‘revolving door' feel as speakers come and go in a flash.

This was most apparent on Sunday night when a 600-strong crowd packed a seaside restaurant in Kuala Terengganu. This was arguably Pakatan's biggest Chinese ceramah crowd so far.

It was an electric atmosphere that lasted nearly four hours. Wild ovations greeted the arrival of an all-star cast comprising Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Kelantan exco member Annuar Tan Abdullah, Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu, Gopeng MP Dr Lee Boon Chye and blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

Be it in a soggy kampung field or an open carpark in Kg Cina under a light drizzle, the gradually increasing turnout at Pakatan ceramah has party workers upbeat.

Battle of the ceramah

Not to be outdone, Barisan's top leadership is also thronging Kuala Terengganu in convoys of black-tinted vehicles, but their strategy varies slightly from their Pakatan counterparts.

A slew of day-time ‘ mesra rakyat ' events, generally a mix of food and speeches, are the staple activities of Barisan leaders.

Thrown in the mix are the ceramah which are fewer in number and generally lower in turnout compared to those by Pakatan.

The exception was a ceramah at the Malay enclave of Cabang Tiga on Monday night which saw Barisan deputy chairman Najib Abdul Razak addressing a crowd of more than 1,000.

The ceramah was themed " Masih kau ingat? (Do you remember?), with speakers raining criticism on PAS' reign on the state between 1999 and 2004.

Though it was drizzling throughout, the enthusiastic crowd responded to speeches with loud chants of "PAS kluk klek (flip flop)", "Hidup Barisan" and Barisan's 2004 general election campaign slogan "Gelombang biru (blue wave)".

There is also an increase in ad-hoc government and private functions, which are graced by Cabinet ministers or their deputies, though these rarely draw crowds.

Some functions are downright bizarre for an election campaign. For example, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Abdul Samad was in town, of all things, to officiate the rebranding of a popular fast-food restaurant.

Rookie vs veteran

Barisan leaders appear to be making a beeline towards the Wakaf Mempelam state constituency, a PAS stronghold which has been represented by Abdul Wahid for five terms.

Assuming all things are equal, a dent in Wakaf Mempelam's support for PAS would guarantee a Barisan win with a bigger majority.

As for the candidates, Abdul Wahid hits the campaign trail as early as 7am and meets as many voters as he can until nightfall, when he addresses four to five ceramah before calling it a night.

This has been his routine since the first day of campaigning and the veteran politician shows no sign of fatigue.

In contrast, Barisan Nasional candidate Wan Ahmad Farid Salleh appears to have a less strenuous campaign schedule and often has time to join Najib at the latter's functions.

Wan Ahmad even has time to hold his own press conference every few days, whereas Abdul Wahid has left the talking to Terengganu PAS' top leadership, giving him valuable minutes to meet more voters.