TERENGGANU: In the past week, a small fishing town in Malaysia’s eastern state of Terengganu has been turned into a political battleground.
Kuala Besut is set for a by-election on July 24 after its incumbent assemblyman died of lung cancer.
The polls are keenly watched as an opposition win will result in the first hung state assembly in Malaysia’s history.
The straight fight between Malaysia’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and the opposition Islamic party Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is the first by-election since an intensely fought general election in May that returned BN to power.
Both sides are seizing this opportunity to prove their case.
BN wants to secure a bigger win to show it has the rural support while PAS is all out to create the first hung state assembly in history.
If PAS wins, both sides will have an equal number of seats in the 32 seat state assembly.
“The theme for this by election is ‘16:16’. We have announced that if we win, BN can keep the Menteri Besar post, we will take Kuala Besut as ours,” said PAS campaign manager, Hanafiah Mat.
Both sides are fielding first timers.
BN candidate, Tengku Zaihan, is a 37-year-old civil engineer who hails from this coastal community in Kuala Besut.
The PAS is fielding 48-year-old Azlan Yusof, a local businessman and a philanthropist.
It is barely less than three months since the last general election where BN won by a handsome majority of 2,400 votes and the odds are said to be stacked against PAS as Kuala Besut is a stronghold of the BN.
BN has promised over US$100 million of development, including building a massive breakwater in Kuala Besut, and upgrading the infrastructure, as well as improving the quality of health care and education here.
