‘Let Barisan handle Kemaman’

Sharing a light moment: Raja Mohamed Affandi meeting voters in Taman Gong Pauh, Kemaman. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: Let the Terengganu Mentri Besar handle the state while Barisan Nasional represent Kemaman at the federal level.

This is the latest appeal by Terengganu Barisan leaders to Kemaman voters in the parliamentary by-election which analysts have said the coalition faces steep odds of winning.

In the last general election, Perikatan won Kemaman by a 27,000-vote majority. Barisan has fielded ex-general and local boy Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor in the polls while Perikatan is pinning its hopes on popular Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri.

Samsuri’s five-year administration from 2018 to 2023 is one of the main reasons behind Perikatan’s dominant win in the Terengganu state polls where it secured all 32 state seats. But the Mentri Besar’s campaign in the Kemaman by-election has been bogged down by his official duties, especially in overseeing flood relief operations.

In an online discussion as part of its campaign, Terengganu Barisan Youth chief Tengku Haphiz Tengku Putera alluded to the Menteri Besar’s hectic schedule in his argument of why voters should choose a Barisan MP.

“If we pile on the work for the Mentri Besar (by electing him as an MP), it’s not going to be added value for us because it puts extra burden on his mental capacity to think of federal level issues and about the state too,” said Tengku Haphiz.

“If we diversify our leaders, it’s better for us in Terengganu, where the Mentri Besar leads the state and we have a different voice that represents us at the federal level,” he said in a discussion that was uploaded on Barisan Nasional’s official Facebook account.

Another Terengganu Barisan Youth leader, Muhd Adhwa Arshad, chimed in, saying that as a potential MP, Barisan’s Raja Affandi has a better advantage.

“We have two candidates with good backgrounds, so we are looking at which one has the better advantage as an MP,” said Muhd Adhwa from Kemaman.

“In this case, Tan Sri Affandi is better because he has worked a long time at the federal level,” he said of Raja Affandi, who is the former chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces. “Because he has worked at the highest levels of the Federal Government for a long time, he will be familiar with how the agencies work and this will aid him in bringing funds to the constituency.”

Tengku Haphiz added that for voters under 40, this aspect is important as much of the infrastructure and funding for sports, social and cultural events is from the Federal Government agencies.

“One of the government agencies overseeing youths is the Youth and Sports Ministry. A Barisan MP would have an easier time dealing with this agency as Barisan is also part of the Federal Government,” said Tengku Haphiz.

Over 141,790 electors are eligible to vote in the Dec 2 by-election, which is being called after an Election Court nullified Perikatan’s victory in the 15th General Election due to an element of bribery during the campaign.In a separate interview with Bernama, Terengganu Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Said questioned whether Samsuri would be able to effectively divide his time between being a Mentri Besar and an MP.

“The duties of Mentri Besar have kept him busy, so imagine holding an additional position of Member of Parliament. (Samsuri) was not even in the country when Terengganu was hit by floods for two consecutive years,” Ahmad reportedly said.