KUALA TERENGGANU - A muted election campaign in Malaysia’s sleepy east coast state of Terengganu belies a tight race between the two main contenders – Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Barisan Nasional (BN).
PN coalition partners Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia hope to win all eight parliamentary seats in Terengganu in the Nov 19 General Election. PAS is contesting in seven seats while Bersatu is running in one.
At the 2018 General Election, PAS won six of the seats, with BN securing two.
“We are very confident of winning all eight parliamentary seats,” Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim, PAS’ incumbent MP for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat, told The Straits Times.
“Looking at the people, especially in Kuala Terengganu, they are with Perikatan Nasional. Last time, it was only PAS, but now we have Bersatu. We think we are going to do better (this time),” said Mr Amzad, who is also Malaysia’s caretaker Deputy Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation.
First-time voter Rohayu Muhammad, 24, said she will vote for PAS, a party which, in her opinion, embodies clean politics. “The young people here will remain with green (the colour of PAS’ party flag) because it is an Islamic party. I want an honest, clean politician who does not steal money,” she told ST.
However, a PAS insider told ST that while the party is on track to win all eight seats, there are three wards where it needs to work harder to shore up support.
BN said it is confident of winning three seats, including Besut where it is fielding candidate Nawi Mohamad. Its incumbent MP Idris Jusoh has a strong presence and can draw votes to BN linchpin party Umno, but will not be contesting this time around.
Kemaman is another seat that BN is confident of taking. It is fielding former Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Said, who is contesting for a parliamentary seat for the first time, having previously been an Umno state assemblyman.
BN also feels it has a good chance in Dungun with its candidate Norhisham Johari, a religious teacher in his 40s and a political science graduate.
Tan Sri Idris, who is also a former Terengganu menteri besar, said: “He is a candidate of calibre, he is young, if we want to rejuvenate Umno. Ahmad Said is well known in Kemaman. With these three, I feel that we can win in these three parliamentary seats.”
Although the PAS state government has decided not to hold its state elections until the end of the monsoon season in 2023, some voters said they prefer to have BN helming the state government as it is better at economic development.
Felda settler Adnan Muhammad, 63, said: “BN is the best when it comes to development, for Malaysians of all races.”
Other rival parties are hoping to make inroads in the state, with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of Pakatan Harapan (PH) making Terengganu part of his campaign trail on Friday. He stopped by in Kuala Nerus and Dungun to speak to voters there, despite PH getting mauled in the 2018 General Election in the state and failing to win a single seat.
Former premier Mahathir Mohamad’s Parti Pejuang Tanah Air is also contesting in all eight seats.
Terengganu has 922,856 voters, 97 per cent of whom are Malay Muslims.
Analysts say it may not be all smooth sailing for PAS.
Dr Yusri Ibrahim, head of research at think-tank Ilham Centre, said: “I don’t see an easy win for PAS in Terengganu. It is hard to predict, it is a very close race.”
Umno will work hard to maintain its 2018 wins in the seats of Besut and Hulu Terengganu, while also eyeing Setiu, Kemaman and Kuala Nerus, where it has a strong support base, Dr Yusri told ST.
