Village folks are telling me no need to campaign - Mat Hasan

RANTAU POLLS | Villagers in Rantau appear to be showing a high level of confidence in BN for the upcoming by-election - or so claims Umno acting president Mohamad Hasan.

Mohamad, who is defending the seat he has held since 2004, said many villagers have told him that he need not campaign to get their support.

"Yesterday I was in Taman Sejati, Kuala Sawah. When I went to meet the people, they told me 'Datuk there's no need to come see us'.

"They feel guilty that I went to visit them," Mohamad said at a press conference in Rantau today.

He said he had been told the same when he went on a walkabout in Taman Bunga Raya, which is in the Kampung Siliau polling district.

Mohamad, however, said he was not going to take things lightly as people may change their minds, and hence he would do his best to meet voters.

If Mohamad's claims are true, it could mean that Pakatan Harapan is in for an uphill battle, especially with Malay voters.

According to parliament-level data from the 14th general election (GE14), Harapan had won 56.5 percent of the vote in Kuala Sawah, while BN bagged 39 percent of the vote. At that time, 42 percent of Kuala Sawah voters were Malay.

Sentiments among Malay voters have changed since May 9 last year, which led to Harapan losing the Semenyih seat in a by-election last month.

At an mini-ceramah in BN territory last night, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail appeared to have failed to draw a substantial crowd from among residents.

Mohamad said that he has heard Harapan refer to Rantau as the "mother of all by-elections", due to its significance in being a chance to stop Umno and BN's momentum.

Meanwhile, Mohamad said he has not spent a lot of money on his campaign flags and posters.

"I made preparations during GE14, but then there was no contest.

"So I stored (all the material) and now. I've taken it out again," he said.

On a separate matter, Mohamad said that Malaysia must move away from negative politics of "slander and character assassination".

This, he said, does not benefit the people, and urged politicians to focus on policies instead.

He also clarified his remarks on wanting Malaysia to have a "two-party" system, explaining that he meant "two political blocs". - Mkini