Penanti just the place to speak on Perak

Written by Regina William, The Edge

The outcome of the Penanti by-election may be a foregone conclusion to some but for leaders of Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the polls are still a big deal.

Actually, it is not much about Penanti, or even voting in a new deputy chief minister as far as PAS, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and DAP are concerned.

With Barisan Nasional (BN) sitting out this contest, and having only to face three independents, the seat is more or less "in the bag" for PKR, but the by-election could not have come at a more opportune time for the opposition pact.

Being called hot on the heels of the Appeals Court judgment on the Perak debacle, it has become the perfect platform for them to talk about what happened in Perak.

During the nomination process last Saturday, embattled former Perak MB Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin was clearly the "star" of the day, from being mobbed by journalists and PR supporters to having everyone queuing up to pose for photographs with him.

For once, even PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim found to his relief that he was not the centre of attraction.

Wherever he went, Nizar was greeted with thunderous applause and when he spoke at several ceramah, the crowd stood in awe, listening to his every word.

Having him during the next seven days of ceramah would surely only do PKR more good, including securing more votes from even the fence-sitters, who had perhaps voted for the BN during the March 8 general election.

Nizar himself has been pleading to the Penanti voters, even to die-hard BN supporters, to show their displeasure of what happened in Perak by returning PKR's Mansor Othman with an even bigger majority than what was obtained by the former state assemblyman Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin.

During the March 8 general election, Fairus won by a 2,219-vote majority, obtaining 7,346 votes to Umno's Datuk Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid who secured 5,127 votes.

Mansor is facing former PKR Wanita chief Aminah Abdullah, 56, ex-Gerakan local leader from the Thai community Nai-Khan Ari, 41, and Kamarul Ramizu Idris, 42, who had also contested the Bukit Gantang parliamentary constituency recently and lost his deposit after garnering just 82 votes.

Penanti has 15,384 registered voters with 24 postal voters of whom 72.68% are Malays, 24.22% Chinese, 2.39% Indians and 0.71% others.

Over the next few days, PR bigwigs including PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang are also expected to campaign in Penanti with Anwar, Lim Guan Eng, Selangor MB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and a host of PR leaders.

Despite the presence of these supremos, the by-election fever has not even descended upon Penanti, or it may not even happen.

With BN out of the picture, this time around, even PKR has not bothered with putting up buntings or flags, perhaps taking the opportunity to cut down costs as well.

However, the door-to-door visits, nightly ceramah and even talks at villages by PR leaders are stepped up to reach out to more voters in a much more personal manner.

Over the past six weeks, Anwar, who is evidently not taking this by-election for granted has been back almost every weekend, to speak to the voters and convince them not to take the by-election lightly.

For Anwar, a loss would be unthinkable at this point of time, not when he needs to fill the deputy chief minister's post which has been left vacant and PKR's representation in the Penang state government being reduced.

For Mansor, meanwhile, perhaps Penanti would break the jinx of his losses, having been unsuccessful during all three previous outings.

This is his fourth attempt, and he is hoping the Penanti voters would help change his luck.

What do the Penanti folk make of what is happening in their constituency, which has seen them having to cast their votes thrice, in less than 15 months?

Many do not really know Mansor, but are willing to give him the chance to serve them.

For many of these rural folk, life goes on, no matter who wins come May 31.

However, out of reverence for Anwar, many would go out and exercise their constitutional right to cast their votes even if it inconvenienced them.

For 67-year-old Halijah Ahmad, a kuih ("sweetmeats") seller in the Penanti morning market, it was not a big deal to queue up and cast her vote again.

"It is not like we have to do it everyday, and it won't take even half an hour, so what is the big deal that people are making about us voters being inconvenienced?

"We are the ones who should decide for ourselves, and I firmly believe in exercising my rights," said the gutsy outspoken woman who is even contemplating taking next Sunday off from selling kuih to vote.

Her feelings reverberate throughout this small constituency, which lies in the centre of the Permatang Pauh heartland, which has been an Anwar stronghold since he first became its MP on a BN ticket in 1982.

Chin Eng Hock, 73, who runs a sundry shop in the small Penanti township, having been born and bred in this quaint "cowboy" township, thinks Penanti voters are a lucky lot.

"Where else in Malaysia have the voters been given a chance like this since March 8?

"They would all have to wait for another four years before they get a chance to vote again.

"We in Penanti are doing it for the third time and I have no qualms about it, I have every right to vote. We also represent the other Malaysians in this by-election, to show how we feel about what has been going on since last year," he added.

Mohd Ghazali Mamat, 45, a civil servant, meanwhile is contemplating not to come out and vote on Sunday.

A BN supporter, Ghazali echoed the sentiments of the BN leadership, that the Penanti by-election was a waste of public funds.

"What are they trying to prove? We did our duty by electing the representative we wanted last year, and now, why should we have to do it again?

"It doesn't matter to me who becomes the deputy chief minister as I don't think his presence will change the political equation in Penang," he added.

However, Ghazali is hopeful that whoever is voted in, can bring change to the Penanti constituency, which he says has remained neglected all these years.