CANDIDATES MAKE PRESENCE FELT
Smooth sailing for BN’s Tok Mat but PKR’s Streram finds himself in hot water
WITH the Rantau byelection entering its sixth day of campaign trails yesterday, candidates made the most of the political momentum to cement their presence in the constituency in preparation for polling day next week.
Barisan Nasional’s candidate, who is Umno’s acting president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, said his programmes for the past six days had been smooth sailing, without any big challenges getting in the way.
“No big challenges throughout the campaign so far.
“There is no issue that can interfere with the campaign.
“I’m not an outsider who comes
here to campaign. A lot of people know me and that has made the campaign process a lot easier.”
He said he had carried out his duties as an elected representative here for the past 14 years to the best of his ability.
“Although I was busy with my duty as Negri Sembilan menteri besar, I had never failed to make time to manage the state seat. That’s why I have a good relationship with the people here,” said Mohamad, who was a threeterm Rantau assemblyman.
While Mohamad described his journey as smooth sailing, the same, however, cannot be said for Pakatan Harapan’s Dr S. Streram. Dr Streram found himself in hot water yesterday following an allegation that PH had featured children during a political ceramah here recently.
He said the event was a children’s colouring contest organised by a non-governmental organisation.
“It (the allegation) is not true. I’ve seen pictures (of the event). It was a colouring contest... maybe they were giving out prizes after the contest.”
It was alleged that PH had committed an election offence by exploiting children for political purposes.
Pictures of the event, held on Thursday night in Taman Orkid here, showed children standing on a lorry, which doubled as a makeshift stage complete with speakers.
The children were seen holding boxes of colour pencils and standing in front of a backdrop featuring several PH leaders.
It did not take long for the opposition to use the latest controversy to attack PH and its candidate.
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was among the first to highlight the issue on Facebook.
Former Umno Youth chief and Rembau member of parliament Khairy Jamaluddin had also slammed the move.
“I am disappointed. If we (BN) did it, we would be accused of exploiting small kids.
“This is a political scene. It’s not suitable for children. Children are not supposed to be used for campaign programmes, especially at night.”
Independent candidate, R. Malarvizhi’s attempt to submit her manifesto to PKR’s president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the party’s 20th anniversary celebration on Thursday night almost stirred chaos if not for the authorities who prevented her from entering the venue.
With the theme “Two Decades of Reformation”, the event held at Rantau Square was attended by several PKR and Pakatan Harapan leaders.
Malarvizhi, 51, made the bold move by appearing in front of the stage to submit her manifesto to Anwar. However, police and PKR officers blocked her.
The welcoming ceremony then ran smoothly as scheduled without any interruption.
Among the top leaders at the event were Deputy Prime Minister and PKR Advisory Council chairman Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, PH Secretariat head and Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah and PKR Advisory Council deputy chairman Syed Husin Ali.
Other leaders present were DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, PKR secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution and Negri Sembilan Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim.