Quiet Taiping comes alive with by-election campaign rivalry
By Sharon Tan (The Edge)
TAIPING: This quaint and quiet town, known for its heavy rainfall, came to life yesterday with chantings of "Rasuah" ("Bribes") and "Reformasi" ("Reformation") amidst a heavy presence of police and a helicopter circling the crowd of some 20,000.
The sea of green flags depicting supporters of PAS, easily outnumbered the Barisan Nasional's (BN) blue ones as supporters of both parties started to assemble near the Taiping Municipal Council, which was the nomination centre, as early as 7.45am.
The field in front of the council building became a no man's land for the two factions while barb wire blocked off the road leading to the building. Riot police circled the field to ensure that the supporters stayed on their designated side.
PAS supporters easily outnumbered those of BN. Photo by Chu Juck Seng
PAS's candidate Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin arrived at the centre about 8.45am accompanied by party president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang and deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa. Other top party leaders included PAS secretary-general Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar and Datuk Harun Din. Also present were DAP's bigwigs such as Lim Kit Siang, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, chairman Karpal Singh and vice-president Tengku Abdul Aziz.
Leading the BN team was Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin along with vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamad and Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir. Also seen were MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and PPP president Datuk Seri M Kayveas.
The noisy crowd saw some tense moments when new Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin walked to the fence to shake hands with PAS supporters. The riot police quickly moved in to stop supporters from trying to scale the fence while Kamaruddin, the PAS secretary-general, was seen talking to the supporters which calmed the situation.
The supporters stayed cool when Muhyiddin walked to the fence to wave at them.
When Karpal arrived after 10.30am, his van was greeted by a hail of water bottles from BN supporters.
Karpal claimed that the police failed to act upon seeing his van being pelted. No one was hurt in the incident.
Interestingly, Karpal who had opposed the Islamic state strongly, was seated next to Hadi, causing press photographers to go into overdrive. Karpal's presence was both surprising and significant as his stand on the Islamic state has been a bone of contention.
Riot police circled the field to ensure that the supporters stayed on their designated side. Photo by Chu Juck Seng
Zahid, in the meantime, was seen crossing over to the opposition tent to chat with the opposition leaders while the rest were happy to mingle among themselves.
When the candidates were announced at 11.15am, the crowd dispersed without any incident.
