Avoid overconfidence, Anwar tells Pakatan’s KT campaign

By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today warned against overconfidence in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) ranks despite encouraging signs for the Pas candidate in the Kuala Terengganu by-election campaign.

With the Barisan Nasional (BN) campaign appearing disjointed and Chinese voters ready to swing to PR, the de facto PKR chief called on the tripartite alliance to "work as hard as possible as we are facing a slanted media and hundreds of millions being poured into the campaign" by their opponents.

Anwar has long accused the BN government of fixing the electoral process and claimed that PR would have won last year's general elections had the contest been a fair one.

"They are the first underdog in history who control the media and have the most funds," he said when asked to comment on Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo's statement that BN candidate Datuk Wan Farid Wan Salleh was the underdog in the campaign.

"It is as if only one party is contesting," he said of certain news sources.

"Frankly, I do not know," he replied when asked if he agreed with some analysts who considered the battle a 50-50 affair.

His reasoning, he said, was based on the fact that while many were of the opinion that the 11 per cent Chinese electorate would give their vote to Pas candidate and Wakaf Mempelam assemblyman Abdul Wahid Endut, the majority of voters were Malay and they were still the main factor in deciding the winner.