Coalitions not nominating 'poster boys' in Kelantan polls

 

None of the coalitions participating in the upcoming Kelantan legislative assembly elections will be adopting the “poster boy” strategy.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, a high-level Kelantan BN source cited royal prerogative over the selection of the menteri besar.

“We want to avoid what happened in Johor,” said the source.

During the Johor legislative assembly elections in March 2022, BN won by a landslide but their nominee for menteri besar - Hasni Mohammad - wasn’t appointed to the position.

The poster boy strategy refers to BN’s tradition of heavily promoting their menteri besar candidate ahead of elections.

However, the coalition has a history of failing to ensure their poster boy gets the top job, such as in Terengganu (2008) and Perlis (2018).

Kelantan Pakatan Harapan chairperson Muhammad Husain

Kelantan Pakatan Harapan chairperson Muhammad Husain also confirmed they had no plans to come up with a poster boy.

“This was not raised in discussions between Harapan and BN. We will let BN decide, as they are more dominant,” he said.

'Everyone is a poster boy'

Meanwhile, Kelantan PAS deputy chief Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah told Malaysiakini his party will continue its tradition of not naming a candidate for menteri besar.

“We don’t have one. Everyone is a poster boy,” he said.

He said the party’s central committee will decide who will be menteri besar only after they win the election.

Kelantan PAS deputy chief Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah

“We have never discussed this at the state level, even since the time of tok guru (Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat),” he said.

The incumbent menteri besar is Ahmad Yakob, a six-term assemblyperson for Pasir Pekan who has already served two terms in the state’s top post. - Mkini