THE Kemaman parliamentary by-election is on with a total of 49 polling stations and 244 channels opened at 8am today.The two-cornered competition between Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS for the Kemaman parliamentary seat will be decided today and pits Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar against BN candidate General (B) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor, who is also the former Malaysian Armed Forces commander.A total of 141,382 registered voters will cast their ballots today to elect a new representative for the Kemaman parliamentary constituency.Voting will end at 6pm and the vote tallying process will take place at Dewan Berlian of the Kemaman Municipal Council in Chukai.
Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh expects a turnout of up to 70% for the by-election but it would also depend on the weather conditions, as it is forecast to rain all day long.For the record, the Kemaman parliamentary by-election is being held following the decision of the Terengganu Election Court on Sept 26 to annul the victory of PAS candidate Che Alias Hamid in the 15th General Election (GE15) due to evidence of corruption to influence voters.The percentage also takes into account the forecast by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) that Kemaman will continue to rain on polling day.
Meanwhile, the Tangga Batu MP Bakri Jamaluddin called on the voters of the Kemaman Parliament who are outside the constituency to return to vote.According to him, the victory of the PAS candidate for the by-election is very important as it is part of the party’s effort to change the political culture at the national level.Bakri pointed out that the people, especially the youth, are very thirsty for a new political culture that is different from their current political habits.“They want people who can change this culture. And Dr Sam is the right person to change all this,” he said at an event. – Dec 2, 2023
Main photo credit: Bernama
