KEMAMAN: Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang might have felt intimidated when he said that senior voters who supported Barisan Nasional (BN) were individuals who did not understand politics, said Anthony Loke.
The DAP secretary-general said Pas was aware that BN had staunch supporters and followers who were difficult to influence.
"Voters living in this area (Kemaman) are more loyal towards BN... if they make such a statement then maybe they feel threatened in terms of their winning chances.
"I think it is still uncertain that young voters will support Pas' candidate because there are many factors that have to be taken into consideration including the current political stability (before casting their ballots).
"What is important is that this by-election (outcome) does not change the government… it only elects a member of parliament and the Federal government is already stable," he told reporters when met at SJK(C) Lok Khoon in Kemasik here yesterday.
Yesterday, Hadi, who is the Marang member of Parliament, said that many elderly voters did not support Pas and chose to be with BN during the last general election and recent state elections.
He said that they did not understand politics compared to youngsters aged between 21 and 40 who supported Pas.
Meanwhile, Loke hoped that voters in Kemaman would support the unity government's candidate (General (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor) in the Kemaman by-election.
"Terengganu does not have any other parties apart from Pas… it is the same at both the parliament and state seats.
"Because there is no competition, this is unhealthy... I hope that Kemaman voters would support our candidate so that Kemaman can stand out from the crowd. The victory of the Kemaman unity government will put pressure and competition on the state government," he said.
The Kemaman parliamentary seat by-election is a straight fight between Terengganu menteri besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar from Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Raja Mohamed Affandi, who was picked to represent BN in the Dec 2 polls.
The by-election was called following the decision of the Terengganu Election Court on Sept 26 to annul the victory of Pas candidate Che Alias Hamid in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Pas managed a clean sweep of the parliamentary seats in Terengganu in GE15, winning all eight and securing all 32 state seats for the first time during the state polls in August.