BUKIT MERTAJAM, March 3 (Bernama) -- Come polling day Saturday, the Barisan Nasional (BN) is confident of capturing the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat and the Permatang Pasir state seat which were won by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and PAS, respectively, with slim majorities in the last general election.
PKR is feeling the heat of the election campaign strategy employed by Datuk Pirdaus Ismail, the BN candidate who is working hard to wrest Permatang Pauh from incumbent Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Pirdaus had lost to Dr Wan Azizah by 590 votes in the last general election, in 2004.
In Permatang Pasir, one of the three state seats within the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency, BN new face Ahmad Sahar Shuib is convinced that he can topple incumbent Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman of PAS.
Mohd Hamdan had beaten Datuk Md Isa Ramli of the BN by a majority of 679 votes to take the seat in the 2004 general election.
The strong challenge posed by Pirdaus in Permatang Pauh was acknowledged by Penang PKR Liaison Committee deputy chairman Mustapa Kamal who said the BN had the advantage of a 50-year track record of good administration.
"We do have a problem facing the onslaught of the BN campaign but we are carrying on with our campaign as usual. We have our loyal supporters," he told Bernama.
Mustapa said the PKR had to work harder to retain its stronghold, the only parliamentary seat the party held in the last parliament, and that it had the cooperation of PAS in its election campaign.
He said PKR was conducting ceramah (talks) in all the three state constituencies within Permatang Pauh -- Seberang Jaya, Permatang Pasir and Penanti.
"The voters of today are wiser and they know what they want. They cannot be bullied anymore," he said.
Besides the challenge from the BN, PKR is also having to face the demands of the Permatang Pauh constituents who want change and development and can no longer be fooled by empty promises.
Constituent Osman Awang's view is shared by others as well: "Most of the votes Dr Wan Azizah received previously were sympathy votes because her husband (PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) was arrested then. But the scenario has changed since."
Voter Fatimah Ahmad is disappointed at not having been able to see Dr Wan Azizah at all during the two terms that she was her elected representative.
"The local people find it hard to meet her because she never goes to the ground," she said.
The votes of Osman, Fatimah and others in Permatang Pauh will make a difference come Saturday.
In Permatang Pasir, Ahmad Sahar, 45, is banking on his 12 years of experience as a Community Development Department (Kemas) senior supervisor, which enabled him to get to know many people, to wrest the seat from PAS.
"My work as the Kemas senior supervisor required me to mix with the people, regardless of whether they are supporters of PAS or PKR. All of them are my friends and I hope they remain so forever," he told Bernama.
Ahmad Sahar is better known as "Cikgu Sahar" (Master Sahar) as he had served as a school teacher for 10 years prior to being appointed the Kemas senior supervisor in 1996.
"Many of my friends from among the opposition party supporters have sought my help to get their children admitted to Kemas pre-schools and obtain school fee and textbook aid. Some of them have also asked me to arrange for skills training for youths," he said.
The father of four feels that the time has come for Permatang Pasir, the least developed of the three state constituencies in Permatang Pauh, to catch up with the development that it has been denied for almost 10 years.
He will know for sure on Saturday.
-- BERNAMA
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment