Now that the ruling Umno has named its candidate for the crucial Kuala Terengganu by-election, rivals PAS has earmarked a couple of issues which they will bring into the fight for the parliamentary seat.
On Saturday, Umno announced that Deputy Home Minister Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, who is a senator, will contest the Jan 17 by-election.
It didn’t take long for PAS to zoom into Wan Ahmad Farid’s soft spots - his deputy home minister post and his close ties with outgoing Prime Minster Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Terengganu PAS deputy commissioner Wan Mutalib Embong has questioned Wan Ahmad Farid’s role as deputy prime minister in transferring suspected criminals to the state under the Restricted Residence Act and linked it to the rise in crime.
"We see are more criminals being transferred ... and these people are teaching our young ones on the illegal ways. Petty theft had skyrocketed, such as the stealing of scrap metal.
"Wan Ahmad Farid as deputy home minister has not stopped this. What else does he want to prove in serving the people as he is incapable of bringing betterment to the people of Terengganu by being a senator and a deputy minister," said Wan Mutalib, who is a lawyer and former deputy public prosecutor.
He said this had resulted in the rise of Terengganu’s crime index.
"Allowing Wan Ahmad Farid to win may mean more and more hardcore criminals being brought into Terengganu under restricted residence," said the PAS deputy commissioner, who will lead the opposition party’s machinery in the by-election.
"Being someone from Terengganu, he should have stopped this as he had the power to do so," .
A former aide to Abdullah
Wan Mutalib also targeted the Umno candidate’s close ties with the prime minister, who was political secretary to Abdullah when he was home minister.
The Terengganu PAS deputy leader said Wan Ahmad Farid had failed to advise the prime minister against stopping the multi-billon ringgit payment of oil royalty to Terengganu.
"Wan Ahmad Farid had not done so and now he said he would like to serve the people of Kuala Terengganu.
"He had already been given the chance all this years with his close association with Abdullah and being a senator and deputy minister,” said Wan Mutalib.
“Clearly, the people of Kuala Terengganu can send the right message - that enough is enough in rejecting him and BN (Barisan Nasional coaliton) in this coming by-election." - malaysiakini.com
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