GE15 LIVE DAY 2 | It's Day 2 of the 15th general election campaign period, and there are 12 days to go before polling day.
Follow our live blog as the Malaysiakini team brings you the news as it takes place.
Warisan wants flood mitigation in Sabah
1pm: Warisan leaders want flood mitigation in Sabah to be a key condition for the Borneo Bloc to join any coalition government that may form at the federal level.
The Borneo Bloc refers to Warisan and Sarawak’s GPS.
”If Pahang, under Budget 2023, can be allocated almost RM16 billion, of which RM1.8 billion is for flood mitigation, why can’t Sabah be treated the same?” said Warisan’s Sipitang division head Abdul Aziz Taip in a statement.
”Is it fair that Sabah, the fifth largest contributor to the federal GDP, is only given a small allocation for this when we face floods three to four times a year and suffer severe damage each time?” he asked.
Abdul Aziz and several others issued the statement in support of Warisan deputy president Darell Leiking who first came up with this condition.
Sabahans called to help change govt
12pm - Tawau, Sabah: Pakatan Harapan candidate for Tawau, Christina Liew, is urging the people of Sabah and Malaysia to vote for a change of leadership.
Liew, who is the incumbent Tawau MP, is on the campaign trail meeting her constituents and asking them to support and vote for Harapan in the upcoming polls.
"Vote Harapan to change the government and prime minister," says Liew, who is also a three-term assemblyperson for Api-Api.
She handed out material to enlighten the electorate on the infrastructure and public amenities projects that were implemented over the last four years (2018-2022) using her allocation and funding as an MP.
Tanjong Karang floods
11.50am - Tanjong Karang, Selangor: Muda's candidate Siti Rahayu Baharin visits a location near the Tanjong Karang wet market where a flood mitigation barrier gave way and caused floods in the town area early this morning.
According to initial information from the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department, the incident saw the Tanjong Karang town inundated with floods of about one-metre deep.
Siti Rahayu told Malaysiakini she found out during a walkabout at the wet market this morning that the incident had caused many sellers unable to conduct their businesses.
Haniza hangs hopes on housing record
11.40am - Petaling Jaya, Selangor: Parti Bangsa Malaysia candidate for Hulu Selangor Haniza Mohamed Talha is touting her service record as a former Selangor executive councillor and three-term assemblyperson.
She says that during her stint as the state exco for housing and urban living between 2018 and 2020, she came up with plans to provide affordable housing in the state.
"Selangor is a developed state but unfortunately many people still can't afford to own a home there, particularly the urban poor.
"Under the Rumah Selangorku programme when I was the executive councillor, we targeted the construction of 30,000 low-cost houses by 2023. Between 2018 and 2020, over 10,000 Rumah Selangorku were built.
"Many Selangor residents have been able to have a roof over their heads thanks to this initiative," Haniza said in a statement today.
The incumbent Lembah Jaya assemblyperson, who previously won under PKR but is now PBM’s deputy president, added that during her tenure, she also set up the Selangor Local Government Abandoned Projects Monitoring Committee in 2019.
As a result, she said, several projects were revived and this brought relief to aggrieved parties like house buyers.
Four Kedah Umno women candidates want more representation
11am: Alor Setar, Kedah - Four women candidates fielded by Umno/BN in Kedah talked up their chances and called for more representation.
Pendang parliamentary candidate Suraya Yaacob, who is Kedah Umno information chief and Sungai Tiang state assemblyperson, said she wants to be the voice for the people in the rice bowl state, especially women.
“It is not easy for women to be fielded as candidates. So when BN gets the chance to field its women as candidates to contest in 30 percent of the 15 parliamentary seats in the state, the electors should give it serious thought.
“Look at who the (women) candidates are first, not at the party they represent. Look at their ability and persistent efforts,” she told Bernama.
Former deputy minister Dr Mashitah Ibrahim, who is running for the Kuala Kedah parliamentary seat, said “I went to meet some of the electorates there and they were very excited to have a woman leader, and to me, that is an early sign of victory for BN.”
Candidates for Sungai Petani Shahanim Mohamad Yusoff and Sik, Maizatulakmam Othman @ Ibrahim, both said more women should be given a chance to become elected representatives.
Harapan’s Rodziah touts government experience
10.25am: Ampang, Selangor - Harapan’s candidate for the Ampang parliamentary constituency, Rodziah Ismail, is relying on her long experience as Selangor state executive councillor of various portfolios since 2008 to appeal to constituents.
The three-term PKR Batu Tiga state assemblyperson also urged voters to remember that incumbent Zuraida Kamaruddin betrayed the people’s mandate when she defected from PKR and Harapan in 2020.
When met during a walkabout at food stalls at Kampung Dato Mufti Shuib, Rodziah dismissed any notion of being intimidated by the nine-cornered fight in Ampang.
The PKR stalwart is not only facing three-term incumbent Zuraida, who joined PBM, Rodziah also faces BN’s Ivone Low, GTA’s Nurul Ashikin Mabahwi, Perikatan Nasional’s Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif, Warisan’s Lai Wai Chong, and three independents - Tan Hua Meng, Shafiq Izwan Yunos, and M Raveendran.
The portfolios that Rodziah managed as part of the Selangor state government include Welfare, Women Affairs, Science, Technology and Innovation (2008 to 2014), Rural Development and Traditional Village (2018 to 2019), Entrepreneurial Development (2018 until now), and Housing and Urban Wellbeing (2019 until now).
“I wish to appeal to all voters that we need not only a proper people’s representative but also one who can craft better policies, either to make Ampang more developed and with more infrastructure or as the federal government to come up with encompassing policies, which I as state exco can bring in, especially on housing issues,” Rodziah appealed to the 133,494 registered constituents in Ampang.
Corruption watchdog warns about conflict of interest
10.15am: Petaling Jaya, Selangor - The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) said in a statement that it is alarmed by the nomination of some politicians running for the upcoming 15th general election (GE15) and their ties to businesses.
Following the release of C4 Center’s report, ‘Business in Politics: Seeking Control of Malaysia’s Political System’ on Wednesday (Nov 2, 2022), it reiterated its concerns over GE15 candidates with business ties and urged political parties to review their choices of nominees thoroughly.
C4 Center cited that former energy, science, technology, environment, and climate change minister Yeo Bee Yin, who was nominated for Puchong, was the spouse of IOI Properties Group Bhd chief executive officer Lee Yeow Seng. He is the son of IOI Group Berhad founder, the late Lee Shin Cheng.
“The propriety of an active politician being married to a powerful businessperson and the telling ways in which the business-political nexus manifests, Yeo’s nomination for a parliamentary seat in an area where her in-laws possess vast business interests smacks of potential conflict of interest,” it warned.
Ceramah truck doing the rounds in Ampang
10am: Ampang, Selangor - A pickup truck bearing a poster of Harapan’s Ampang candidate Rodziah Ismail was seen blaring out a political ceramah from its speakers.
The vehicle was seen slowing down whenever it gets near food eateries at Kg Dato Mufti Shuib.
It made multiple rounds near the same area while its speakers played an audio recording of a ceramah by party president Anwar Ibrahim.
Kit Siang: M’sians must not fail Tunku’s dream
9.30am: In a statement this morning based on a rally speech he delivered last night, veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang called on Malaysians to undo the misgovernance of recent years.
“Malaysia failed Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman’s vision to become ‘a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world’ and has become today a second-rate mediocre country.
“We must march forward to achieve the Malaysian Dream of being among the best countries in the world, whether in politics, economics, a clean and honest government, employment, education, health, housing, culture, and sports,” he said at the Penang Chinese Assembly Hall.
“This will take decades and several general elections, but it must start with GE15 under the premiership of Anwar Ibrahim, who is the only candidate for the premiership who has the vision and commitment to make Malaysia great again,” he said.
Lim claimed that other prime ministerial candidates, whether it be Ahmad Zahid Hamidi of the Umno-BN coalition or Muhyiddin Yassin and Abdul Hadi Awang of the Perikatan Nasional coalition, would condemn Malaysia to the route of a failed and rogue state in three or four decades.
Mas Ermieyati hits gotong-royong snag
9.20am: Masjid Tanah, Malacca - Incumbent MP Mas Ermieyati’s campaigning ran into some complications this morning after being prevented from holding a gotong-royong (community cleaning) at the Surau Al-Iman in Taman Indah.
Taking to Twitter, she said the surau’s committee members did not welcome her presence based on “several reasons”.
“It’s okay, I understand. I’ll just watch from afar,” she said, attaching an image of her overlooking the surau from a distance.
The incumbent MP said that she held programmes at the surau during the early days of its inception and had even fulfilled the congregation’s request to build a tarred road leading to the surau.
READ MORE: Once-beloved MP Mas Ermieyati struggles with party-first Umno voters
Syed Saddiq, Tan Hong Pin go paddling
8.30am: Muar, Johor - Pakatan Harapan’s Muar and Bakri candidates, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Tan Hong Pin, are up bright and early at Tanjung Emas for some morning exercise.
Together with the Muar Dragon Boat Association, the duo were spotted paddling along the Muar River for about 15 minutes.
However, upon their return to shore, the boat scraped against a wall, sacrificing part of the dragon’s jaw
Despite that, a happy Syed Saddiq enjoyed the fun experience.
“That was great… and exhausting. I learn a new skill every day,” said the incumbent Muar MP.
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