BN eyes Kota Bahru with Galas victory
GUA MUSANG, Oct 30 — The Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Galas campaign appeared to have revived aspirations to capture Kelantan which the coalition lost exactly 20 years ago.
Its candidate Abdul Aziz Yusoff told party supporters last night that the by-election and how BN address the problems in the constituency has become the focus of the entire state and country.
“A victory in Galas will create a wave. A wave that will help us recapture Kelantan,” said Abdul Aziz at a gathering held at a Chinese restaurant here.
“I can’t wait for November 4 to win back Galas from PAS,” he said in his longest speech since the by-election campaign started last Tuesday.
PAS’s Che Hashim Sulaima who died last month captured the Galas state seat from BN by a majority of 646 votes in Election 2008.
He received 4,399 votes, defeating incumbent Saufi Deraman.
The Malays make up 65.81 per cent of the more than 10,000 voters in the state constituency, the Chinese 22.03 per cent, Indians 1.81 per cent, while other races are at 10.32 per cent.
Two other state seats in Gua Musang, Nenggiri and Paloh were won by BN.
In the 2008 general election, PAS was able to capture 38 of the 45 state seats in Kelantan while BN won six and PKR managed only one. The victory was the Islamist party’s fifth in the Malay-majority state.
Abdul Aziz had earlier told some 150 supporters to judge BN on how the coalition has been addressing the problems in Gua Musang.
“I can’t promise you diamonds, but I promise to serve all regardless of race or religion,” he said.
“We have solved a lot of problems in Galas. One of them is low-cost housing, with the first public housing project in Gua Musang,” said Abdul Aziz citing the proposed 1,500 unit low-cost housing project announced by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin last week.
The Gua Musang Umno secretary, the election is also a test for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia concept due to the racial composition of the rural seat.
“The Galas by-election has now become focus in the entire nation. Our racial composition is similar to that of Malaysia. A victory will show that Datuk Seri Najib’s 1 Malaysia is accepted,” said Abdul Aziz.
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