Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said that he was "reasonably optimistic" that the Barisan Nasional would do better in the Kuala Terengganu polls than the last general election.
However he stressed that the coalition did not want to be over-confident in going to the polls in Jan 17, adding that its candidate Wan Ahmad Farid was a capable person to be the people's representative.
Wan Ahmad himself said that hard work had just started for him as he would be going all out to woo the voters.
During the March general election BN's Razali Ismail won the seat with a 628-vote majority in a three-cornered fight. He however died unexpectedly on Nov 28, necessitating this by-election on Jan 17.
Three candidates filed in their nominations today with Wan Ahmad pitting against PAS' Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut and independent candidate Azharudin Mamat @ Adam for the parliamentary seat.
Talking to reporters after the nomination process, Najib, who is heading the BN campaign for this by-election, said that Wan Farid was the right person to serve the people in Kuala Terengganu.
"We don't want to be over confident but we are reasonably optimistic that we can do better than our March results," he said.
He also added that the by-election was not a referendum on either himself or the prime minister - Najib will be replacing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March.
"This by-election is for the people to choose their representative. This should be the consideration for the people," he added.
BN priority is on rakyat
He added that BN would be tackling on issues pertaining to the people, on what can be done for them and what has been done for them.
"Everything done by the BN is for the rakyat. We put our priority on them.
"But if the opposition raise national issues, we will answer them," he said.
The opposition is expected to raise issues such as the various mega projects - from Monsoon Cup to the Crystal Mosque, and on the recent talks of Sime Darby taking over the national heart institute as part of their election campaign.
Najib also added that it was the BN candidate who would get things done, alluding to the fact that Wan Ahmad was to be reappointed as the deputy home minister if he wins the by-election.
Both Najib and Wan Ahmad also refused to comment on remarks made by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the candidate was a proxy for Abdullah and Najib.
Wan Ahmad said that he was interested in concentrating in getting the voters to vote for him at the moment and would not comment on anything else.
Chinese voters unaffected by hudud issue
Meanwhile, PAS' Mohd Abdul Wahid was also equally confident of winning the by-election.
"I am ready to be the MP for this area," he told reporters.
He said that being a state assemblyperson for a seat - Wakaf Mempelam - under the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency will not reduce his chance at all.
He was also equally confident that he would be able to garner the Chinese votes in the constituency.
"I don't think the Chinese voters are affected by the hudud controversy," he said.
He was referring to a recent controversy which arose after PAS leaders affirmed their stand to implement the hudud laws if they come to power.
Mohd Abdul Wahid also said that he would not be engaged in any personalty attacks and doesn't think that the independent candidate would be able to split the votes to his (Mohd Abdul Wahid's) disadvantage.
The independent candidate Azharudin also said that he was not in the contest to split the votes, adding that he was running for the seat "to help the poor people" - malaysiakini
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1 comments:
Wahai BN, kenapa petugas2 pengiraan kertas undi pilihanraya Mac lalu dikawasan Puchong/Serdang, Selangor tidak dibayar elaun sehingga kini seperti yang dijanjikan oleh SPR? Kemana perginya wang tersebut?
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