YAN, Nov 4 — Today, more than 27,222 voters in Sungai Limau will decide who they want to represent them in the state legislative assembly after the seat was vacated following the death of Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak on September 26.
Many peace-loving villagers will probably heave a sigh of relief that finally, all the strangers who have been crowding into the village will leave and the roads will be cleared of traffic.
The quiet village, consisting of wide expanses of paddy fields and fringed by fishing villages near the coast, has been inundated by almost daily visits from political leaders of both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) since nomination day on October23.
Political leaders from BN, mostly ministers, such as Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir and the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, have been making frequent visits to this sleepy town, making promises of allocations and funding amounting to more than RM15 million.
Various programmes from carnivals to fun events like fishing contests have also been held by both parties to attract locals and to win their support.
Yesterday, in a last bid attempt to win over the seat that has been held by PAS for five terms, since 1995, Muhyiddin and even former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed visited the constituency to urge voters to choose BN for development.
Muhyiddin again expressed his confidence that BN would finally regain the state seat by saying that voters now are intelligent so they will vote wisely for the party that will bring them development.
On the other side of the political divide, PAS has been harping on about the Government Service Tax (GST), which will be implemented in 2015, but most villagers are not concerned.
Realising this, in the last few days leading up to the polls today, PAS with the help of their PR partners, PKR and DAP, began pandering to what the villagers are most concerned most about: their livelihood and basic infrastructure.
During his visit here, Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim promised to fight for farmers’ rights in Parliament by demanding for an increase in padi prices so that their income will increase.
He asked for a bigger mandate for PAS, which is part of PR, so that PR can use it in Parliament to fight for their rights.
PR has also been trying to deflect the many goodies, gifts and funding handed out by BN on a daily basis by reminding the voters that all these are taxpayers’ money which rightly belong to them.
PR repeatedly pointed out that these are vote-buying tactics and reminded voters not to fall for such promises while at the same time highlighting government wastage including how the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak pays RM6,000 per day for his electricity bill.
“Whatever they give you, take and say thank you, but when you vote, remember to vote “bulan”,” PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali told the villagers during a recent ceramah here.
Kedah PAS commissioner Datuk Mahfuz Omar had repeatedly demanded that the Election Commission (EC) do something about these “apparent vote-buying tactics” but nothing has been done.
Voters will be deciding between PAS candidate Ustaz Mohd Azam Abdul Samat and BN’s Dr Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim today.
Many voters, of which 93 per cent are Malays, are still strong PAS supporters with a great respect for the late Azizan but PAS is still concerned due to the enormous amount of allocations being promised and the gifts being handed out in the last few days.
Though Dr Ahmad Sohaimi is a local, many villagers do not know him but Azam, as a protégé of Azizan, is quite well known so PAS may still lead in the polls today due to villagers’ familiarity with its candidate.
PAS has also been aggressively going from house to house, using the direct approach rather than just depending on various programmes and ceramahs, and this might work in their favour too, as the rural folks prefer a representative who will go down to the ground to talk to them, listen to their issues and resolve their problems for them.
No matter which party wins the seat, it will not result in any major changes for the Kedah state government but for PR, it will determine if support for the Opposition coalition has been waning in the state that it held for only one term between 2008 and 2013.
During the May 5 polls this year, a total 24,349 voters turned out and PAS had won with a 2,774 majority.
Voting starts at 8am and closes at 5pm. Results of the by-election are expected to be announced by 10pm tonight.
