Outnumbered: In Kelantan, there are more PAS flags than Pakatan’s.
Reports by MAZWIN NIK ANIS, WANI MUTHIAH, SARBAN SINGH, ZAKIAH KOYA, RAHIMY RAHIM, AUSTIN CAMOENS, LO TERN CHERN, N. TRISHA, IMRAN HILMY, SHERIDAN MAHAVERA, JUNAID IBRAHIM, KHOO GEK SAN, ARFA YUNUS, MAHADHIR MONIHULDIN, CHARLES RAMENDRAN and TEH ATHIRA YUSOF
PETALING JAYA: Incumbent PAS looks set to maintain its grip on Kelantan as the party seems to be dominating the election campaign with “upholding Islam” as the core of its narrative.
Even then, it has not stopped PAS and its Perikatan Nasional ally Bersatu from fighting hard to woo voters.
The Islamist party’s green flags, along with the dark blue banners of its Perikatan coalition, are all over the streets, bridges and billboards even before nomination day on July 29.
The status of Islam, clean water, state development and job opportunities continue to be the main fodder for campaigns.
Although PAS leaders are confident of securing all 45 seats in the state, some predict that Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional could pull in between three and four seats, including the urban Kota Lama constituency.
Their talking points haven’t changed much – that is, only PAS and Perikatan can “protect” Islam and voters have the “obligation” to choose Malay-Muslim parties that are not aligned with the DAP.
Their ceramah, fronted by party leaders, have managed to attract large crowds while Pakatan and Barisan continue to try and woo voters through a more personal touch by meeting them face to face.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is expected to meet Kelantan voters on Aug 7, one day before early voting.
On the Pakatan-Barisan front, they are promising clean water, development, more infrastructure and job opportunities for locals – four issues that have been haunting the state for decades.
Although there is unease among Chinese voters on PAS-Perikatan’s recent alliance with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the community only makes up 3.5% of the total Kelantan electorate, not enough to unseat the PAS-led state government.
Pasir Mas, Tumpat and Tanah Merah voters are loud and clear – they fear DAP would damage the image of Islam.
“We are not extremists. We are not obsessed. We just want Islam to be upheld. Stop saying we get dirty water all the time, it’s not true,” said Kak Zah, a voter at the Gual Ipoh constituency.
However, one Kelaboran voter known only as Azilah said although hardcore PAS voters claimed that there were no water issues in the state, this was far from the truth.
“I want clean water. It’s been over 30 years and now I want change. My friends who are PAS supporters complain about this too, but now close to election, they have suddenly changed their tune,” she said.
In Terengganu, a massive drawbridge that blocks the ocean’s view in Kuala Terengganu has come to exemplify the competing narratives of whether Barisan or Perikatan would be better at governing the state.
Both coalitions, fighting over the 32 seats in the state, have claimed the drawbridge as their own success.
The RM248mil project, which has four towers and two observation decks, featured prominently in Barisan and Perikatan campaigns over the past week.
The project actually started and construction progressed during the Barisan administrations from 2008 to 2018, but it was only completed during the Perikatan administration from 2018 to 2023.
An upset former mentri besar from Barisan, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, accused Perikatan of unfairly taking credit for the monument, claiming that PAS failed to fulfil some of its own promises.
These include a pledge to build 10,000 affordable homes in the state within five years.
Perikatan’s former mentri besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar hit back at Barisan by highlighting how his government had managed almost double the amount of external investments coming into the state.
From 2014 to 2017, when Barisan ruled, Terengganu recorded external investments of RM5.5bil while between 2018 and 2023, Perikatan managed to pull in RM11bil, said Ahmad Samsuri.
Perikatan also has its own bogeyman to rival Barisan’s Kelantan-fear, which is that each vote for the Malay-dominant coalition is actually a vote for the Chinese-led DAP.
To further press home this point, stickers in the shape of a ballot paper showing the DAP rocket logo underneath a Barisan flag have been plastered on major streetlamp poles throughout the state.
