PETALING JAYA, Sept 7 — PAS’ Seri Setia hopeful Dr Halimah Ali said she is touched by Umno’s solid support during the 21-day campaign period, especially since the two parties used to be archenemies.
“I am moved by the strong support from not only the entire PAS machinery, but also Umno, who has been working day and night to ensure that victory goes to PAS.
“And this (their support) is obvious this time, which is what makes this by-election so different than others, especially since we used to be rivals,” she told a press conference at PAS Petaling Jaya Selatan operations centre here today.
Just yesterday, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that there will be a new “partnership” between the parties during a PAS ceramah at Bandar Sunway.
The former two-term assemblyman for Selat Kelang said, however, she is banking on sheer luck tomorrow since her Pakatan Harapan contender Halimey Abu Bakar has the upper hand when it comes to facilities.
“PAS has no money, while Pakatan has the 3 Ms: money, machinery and media. That’s their advantage... not necessarily the candidate himself.
“My chances to win is 50/50 that is why we are pleading for votes. We hope the youth especially would ‘shake off’ the GE14 fever and vote for PAS,” she said.
She added that it is important for the people to have a reality check and stop looking up to the ruling government who has failed to keep a chunk of their GE14 promises.
“Pakatan now feels like they are so great, even the people think that they are able of performing some magic tricks to suddenly alleviate their daily problems.
“But people realise that after May 9, they are beginning to sigh and complain about those unmet promises. This is the time to change,” she said.
Dr Halimah is set to face Halimey in a two-way fight tomorrow to succeed the Seri Setia seat, which fell vacant after the death of its incumbent Prof Dr Shaharuddin Badaruddin on August 2 due to colon cancer.
