A rush to midnight
Political parties ready to give it their all today to win voters over
At midnight today, a hush will fall upon the country. All that campaigning and rallying will come to an end. Until then, all parties will rush to reach out to as many more voters as possible. In keeping with modern-day technology, the big two will finish with a flourish. At 10pm, Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will address the nation on TV while Pakatan Harapan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will live-stream his last campaign speech. And then, it’s time for Malaysians to go to the polls.
PETALING JAYA: Political parties will wrap up their campaign at midnight – but not before a gruelling day of making a final pitch to woo the voters who will go to the polling centres tomorrow.
Aspiring Yang Berhormat are expected to have an early start to their campaigns today, making full use of the remaining time to cover as many areas, meet as many constituents and make as many political speeches as they possibly can.
Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will spend the last day of campaign with his Pekan constituents, a tradition which he has carried out since he became their MP back in 1976.
He will be having breakfast with Pekan NGOs, visiting families whose houses have been given a facelift and a session with outofbase voters.
He will also be attending special prayers at the AtTaqwa mosque in Peramu.
Interestingly, both Najib and his political rival Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be addressing voters on the eve of polling day.
Najib will appear “live” in a TV3 programme Mandate at 10pm where he is expected to send a heartfelt message to voters.
Dr Mahathir, who is Pakatan Harapan chairman, will also be addressing the people “live” via Facebook from Dewan Ho Peng in Langkawi around 9pm.
The former prime minister will also be having a busy day up north in Langkawi where he is contesting as an opposition candidate.
He will be meeting women voters in Ayer Hangat and attending a people’s programme in Keda Wat Tok Rodong in the morning and a function in Telaga Walk in the evening.
Political analyst Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said Dr Mahathir addressing voters on eve of polling showed that the Opposition did not want to be outdone by the ruling coalition in trying to win their support.
“All political parties will want to use any available platform to reach out to voters and get their support. It will be their last attempt to get to the voters,” he said.
Barisan deputy chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will also be spending the day with his Bagan Datuk voters, attending as many as seven different programmes before ending it with a dinner with Hai Suah Association as well as fishermen in Hutan Melintang.
MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai is also having a packed programme today, ending the 11day campaign with a ceramah in Bentong town tonight.
During the ceramah, Liow, who is defending the parliamentary seat, will brief the people on his plans for the constituency in the next five years.
“People want to see a harmonious township with progressive development. We have launched the Central Spine Road and East Coast Rail Link and we want to expedite digital economy and push for exports of our agricultural products, such as Musang King and bird’s nest,” he said.
Liow added that a 15year Bentong Blueprint 2035 is also in the works to transform Bentong into an ecofriendly satellite town of Greater Kuala Lumpur.
PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang will carry on with his tradition of leading a special prayer on the eve of polling in Rusila, Terengganu.
While political parties and candidates wrap up their campaign, the Election Commission will be making final preparations to receive voters at polling stations.
A total of 8,989 premises will be used as polling centres with 28,995 streams.
It will be a busy day for the 222 returning officers and 259,391 public volunteers who will be on duty to prepare these venues for the Dday.
Police personnel have been deployed nationwide to bolster security on polling day.
Some 10,000 extra personnel from Bukit Aman, General Operations Force, marine police, Air Wing and other divisions will bring the number of uniformed staff on duty during polling day to 68,000.