Big buddy: Ahmad Samsuri (right) and Mohd Yusop (centre) greeting traders at the pasar malam in Setiu.
SETIU: The warm smiles and eager handshakes from residents he received on the campaign trail were encouraging for Mohd Yusop Majid, Perikatan Nasional’s candidate for the Permaisuri seat.
“The support I am seeing is good, that voters want the current leadership to continue,” a beaming Mohd Yusop told The Star as he greeted shoppers and vendors at a pasar malam in Merang here yesterday.
Merang is a jumping off point to the popular resort island of Pulau Redang and lies in the Permaisuri constituency, which has historically been a Barisan Nasional seat.
Some of the positive vibes Mohd Yusop received was thanks to his partner on the campaign trail, caretaker Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who introduced him to everyone at the night market.
People at the market instantly recognised Ahmad Samsuri and he took pains to make sure that they all knew that Mohd Yusop is Perikatan’s man for Permaisuri.
“He is not a new face, but a veteran politician who used to be the Setiu MP in 2004. We are fielding him because we want to give the best to the people of Permaisuri,” Ahmad Samsuri said.
As the first full day of the official campaign period for the Terengganu polls began in earnest, Perikatan and its rivals Barisan Nasional-Pakatan Harapan are deploying local icons to soften the ground for candidates in difficult seats.
Prior to meeting the people in Permaisuri, Ahmad Samsuri spent the afternoon meeting community leaders and a handful of villages in the Chanok area, part of the Langkap seat.
Langkap was won by Barisan with a 3,446-vote majority in the 14th General Election in 2018.
Just like in Permaisuri, Ahmad Samsuri brought along Perikatan’s Langkap candidate Azmin Maarof.“We’re visiting all the people in the area who have influence to get their buy-in,” said an official on the campaign trail who requested anonymity.
While Ahmad Samsuri was busy campaigning in the northern part of the state, another former mentri besar was lending his brand to Pakatan’s quest to capture the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat.
Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman of Barisan joined a walkabout at Kuala Terengganu’s famous Pasar Payang market together with Pakatan’s Azan Ismail and Armi Irzan Mohd.
Azan is making a bid to wrest the seat from Perikatan in the parliamentary by-election that is being held concurrently with the state election.
Armi Irzan, meanwhile, is Barisan’s candidate for the Bandar state seat, where Pasar Payang is located.
He is in a three-way contest with Perikatan’s Ahmad Shah Muhamed and Muda’s Luqman Long. Bandar was a Barisan seat that was captured by Perikatan component party PAS in GE14 by a 2,019-vote majority.
Ahmad Razif said campaigning in the state polls has so far been smooth.
However, he claimed to have received a disturbing WhatsApp message purportedly directed at PAS supporters.
“During nomination day, I saw a WhatsApp message showing PAS praying for their rivals to be blinded. That’s not good. One should not pray for something like that,” he said.
Ahmad Razif called on all parties to behave themselves on the campaign trail.
“Don’t get personal and start attacking. Let’s fight healthily, and gentlemanly,” he added.
