You owe BN, teachers told

In the nail biting battle for Kuala Besut, Barisan Nasional is throwing its weight and demanding payback from teachers.

BESUT:  Teachers, who’ve come under attack in the recent past, for their alleged support of the opposition are being told that they “owe” the Barisan Nasional ruling government their loyalty.

Reminding them that it is “payback” time, Second Education Minister Idris Jusoh said teachers should support the BN coalition in the upcoming Kuala Besut state by-election.

He said the government was constantly looking after the welfare of teachers.

“Teachers should show their gratitude to the government by supporting the BN.

“There is no reason why teachers should turn their back on the government at the time when we ned their help most,“ he told reporters here.

Idris, a strongman in Besut, has been tasked with ensuring BN retains the seat after it fell vacant following the death of assemblyman Dr A Rahman Mokthar last month.

Rahman won the seat by a 2,434 vote majority. He beat Napsiah Ismail.

BN went on win 17 state seats against PAS 15. However Rahman’s death on June 26 has let the BN state government hanging by the thread.

Idris, who is reportedly responsible for rolling back PAS’ influence in Besut after he took over as Menteri Besar in 2004, is leaving no stones unturned and is bent on upping the BN majority to at least 4,000 in the upcoming by-election.

“The time has come for them (teachers) to help ensure that the BN retain the seat as a gratitude to the government, “ he said alluding to commonly held view  that majority teachers in Terengganu and Besut in particular were PAS supporters.

Besut, not an easy run

Besut was once considered the epicenter of PAS activism in the 1980s and 1990s.

Idris, who is also Kuala Besut deputy election director, is not expecting an easy run.

Besut borders PAS-led Kelantan and the party is expected to make its presence felt in Besut.

“Our strategy is to get closer to the people through house to house campaigns and reminding Kuala Besut voters that  the opposition cannot not bring them prosperity,” Idris said.

The Election Commission yesterday announced that the Kuala Besut by-election will be on July 24 and nomination was set for July 12. Advanced voting will be on July 20.

There are 17,683 voters in the Kuala Besut constituency .