Still a guessing game in KT (Kuala Terengganu Election)

With three days before polling, there is still no clear indication who will be the most preferred representative for the people in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency.

The voters have been described as “secretive and unpredictable” by campaign workers as they wound down after another day of intensive house-to-house campaigning to win more votes for their respective party.

A party worker said most voters met during campaigns “smiled, shook hands and listened attentively” but there were no clear signs of their voting behaviour.

Political analysts also seem to have difficulty pinpointing in which direction the votes will swing, while contesting parties are prepared for a close fight to the end.

Strangely enough, this ‘tight race’ situation does not seem to grab the attention of the outside world, as the interested quarters regard this particular by-election as the most ‘quiet’ and ‘peaceful’ event, be it on campaigning or the city itself.

Local people go about their daily business as usual while tens of thousands of outsiders fill every corner of Kuala Terengganu, putting big smiles on business operators. For some 300 members of the media covering this by-election, the ‘quiet’ and ‘peaceful’ means ‘boring, dull and lukewarm’, while for some 6,000 policemen deployed to mantain security, it probably means ‘paradise’.

“Nothing exciting. It’s just same ol’, same ol’,” a reporter was heard telling a colleague after returning from ceramahs (political rallies) held by contesting parties.

Lack of real issues is probably one of the reasons as to why this by-election is considered as the most ‘tame’ so far. Nevertheless, the war of posters are prevalent in most parts of the city.

Since the campaigning period kicked off on Jan 7, heavyweights from both the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have made a beeline into the city, with PR starting the ball rolling by holding its maiden ceramah on the very first night.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Pas spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat were among the speakers, while BN led by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak opted to meeting the people in person.

“No point holding too many big ceramahs as people here are no longer into it,” a BN party worker told Bernama, as Najib made his appearance at a ceramah near Pasar Chabang Tiga on Monday night.

Almost all BN component leaders were seen making their rounds in the constituency moving from one kampung to another canvassing for votes, while PR ‘big guns’ opted to address voters in groups.

As for the Election Commission (EC), this is one peaceful by-election as not a single complaint was lodged by the contesting parties so far, an indication that everything is going smoothly.

The Nomination Day on Jan 7 proceeded without incident, and during postal voting on Monday the EC received a “thumbs-up” for transparency as it allowed agents of the candidates to sit beside the head of postal balloting.

EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Omar explained that the move to enable the agents to see for themselves the whole process, and this probably was in response to the allegation frequently made by the Opposition that the BN government had exploited postal votes in their favour.

Since the general election held last March, the EC has been taking numerous steps to prove its transparency, and in this by-election the commission passed the test with flying colours as Pas grudgingly admitted that everything had gone well so far.

The by-election will see 80,229 voters cast their ballots to choose between BN’s Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, Pas’s Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut and an Independent Azharuddin Mamat @ Adam.

- themalaysianinsider.com.my