KEMAMAN: Come rain or shine, the Kemaman parliamentary seat by-election campaign goes on.
Nothing could dampen the spirits of political party members, party machinery and workers from the Barisan Nasional (BN), Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) camp despite the uncertain weather pattern since nomination day on Nov 18.
Armed with umbrellas, raincoats and rubber shoes, party members could be seen braving the light showers as they try to meet as many people and cover as much ground as possible during the two weeks campaign.
During heavy downpour or thunderstorms, the members who are mostly clad in blue, green and red representing their party colours, will scramble to take shelter either under a shed, run to the nearest business outlets while some will quickly enter their vehicles.
Party workers who seek shelter at business outlets and public places would take the opportunity to engage in small chats with the people around as they distribute pamphlets on the candidate representing their respective parties.
Both BN's Gen (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor and Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar from PN have been braving the rainy weather to campaign over the past few days with both describing the downpour as not a major concern.
Raja Mohamed Affandi said despite it being a little wet, it was much cooler and not as bad as a hot day.
"The weather (rain) has been kind and could be worse during a hot day. Imagine hopping in and out of the vehicle (during campaign) with the car air-conditioner switched on during a hot day.
"I do not see the weather as an issue as some people gather to seek shelter (during rain) and this allows me to meet them," he said.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Samsuri, who is the Terengganu menteri besar, said he hopes that the rainy spell will end soon and the weather will be fine on polling day.
"Maybe the uncertain weather is only for a few days. Let's hope that the skies will be clear on Dec 2 (polling day)," said Ahmad Samsuri, who has been juggling his duties between visiting flood victims in Kuala Terengganu and campaigning in Kemaman.
Meanwhile, a BN election worker from Perak said the clock is ticking fast for the election machinery to help campaign for their respective candidates and they cannot afford to slow down.
"Polling day is less than five days away and despite the uncertain weather conditions, we continue going to the ground to campaign. There are no issues about going door-to-door or holding indoor ceramah sessions to campaign during the rain.
"The only setback is that we cannot put up banners or flags when it is raining. The situation becomes a little bit messy when it rains heavily and we become drenched... there has been little sunlight over the past few days but there is nothing much we can do as work must go on," he said.
The Kemaman parliamentary seat by-election is a straight fight between Ahmad Samsuri and Mokhtar Raja Mohamed Affandi.
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.