Kemaman by-election: The battle for relevance in Malay politics

 No News Is Bad News

For image info, go to https://www.scmp.com/knowledge/topics/malaysian-politics (Malaysian Politics)

Kemaman by-election: The battle for relevance in Malay politics

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18, 2023: The Kemaman parliamentary by-election in Terengganu, scheduled be held on Dec 2, will see both PAS and Barisan Nasional (BN)-Umno locked in an electoral battle for “political relevance.

PAS, which won all the parliamentary and state seats after the 15^th General Election (GE15), will be hard pressed to defend  Kemaman to show that its Taliban-like brand of politics and governance are still popular.

Likewise, Umno will want to win to show that it has managed to turn around to win the confidence of Malay voters to remain politically relevant in Malay politics.

The outcome of the by-election is likely to be a pointer on the survival of multi-racial-religious Malaysia.

PAS is anti-multi-racial Malaysia while Umno has remained steadfast with Anwar Ibrahim’s Unity Government to defend the rakyat dan negara (people and country) against the threat of racial and religious bigots since GE15.

A BN-Umno win will indicate that PAS and Perikatan Nasional (PN)-Bersatu, led by the racist Muhyiddin “I Am Malay First” Yassin, electoral fortunes may be on the decline.

A BN-Umno loss will indicate that the UG has yet to win over the confidence and support of the Malays influenced by racial and religious bigotry politics.

The by-election is thus crucial for both PAS and Umno - the fight for relevance in Malay politics.

No News Is Bad News reproduces bellow the Election Commission’s announcement of the by-election:

Kemaman parliamentary by-election set for Dec 2

The seat was won by a PN candidate in the general election last year but the result was nullified by an election court because of corruption allegations.

Ameer Fakhri - 17 Oct 2023, 11:45am

Nomination day for the Kemaman parliamentary seat by-election is set for Nov 18 with early voting to take place on Nov 28.

PUTRAJAYA: A by-election will be held on Dec 2 for the Kemaman parliamentary seat in Terengganu, following the recent ruling by an election court which nullified Perikatan Nasional’s win in the constituency in last year’s general election (GE15) over bribery claims.

Nomination day is set for Nov 18 with early voting to take place on Nov 28, Election Commission chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh announced today.

The seat had been won by PAS’s Che Alias Hamid with a majority of 27,170 votes over his nearest rival, former menteri besar Ahmad Said of Umno, who contested on a Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket.

However, on Sept 26, the result was nullified and the seat vacated when the election court in Kuala Terengganu held that the distribution of i-Belia and i-Siswa government aid to voters during the campaign period constituted election bribery.

The money had been distributed at events organised by the PAS-controlled Terengganu state government.

PAS decided not to file an appeal against the ruling by the election court.

The campaign period will run from Nov 18 to Dec 1.

There are 141,790 eligible voters, including 408 in the early voting category.

“The by-election for Kemaman, Terengganu requires a budget of RM3.5 million,” Ghani told the press at the EC headquarters.

Rumours had previously circulated about PN fielding former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Kemaman, but that was quickly dismissed by Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar who said PN could retain Che Alias as its candidate for the seat.

Meanwhile, on Sept 26, Terengganu BN chief Ahmad Said said the coalition was ready to contest the Kemaman parliamentary seat despite the wipeout in the Terengganu state elections in August.