KEMAMAN: Talks on the possibility of Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar leading the country in the future has put him in the driver's seat to retain the Kemaman parliamentary constituency by-election on Dec 2.
Kemaman Pas deputy chief Hanafiah Mat said the move by PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to endorse Ahmad Samsuri, or fondly known as Dr Sam as a leader with a lot of promises, and has a bright future at the federal level seems to have boost Pas's chances here.
"He (Ahmad Samsuri) has shown credibility... his calmness to resolve issues, he does not attack anyone's personality and has successfully administered Terengganu. This qualifies him to be prime minister to all races and political parties in the country.
"Based on the feedback received from voters on the ground, Ahmad Samsuri as a personality to lead the country appears to give them more reason to pledge their support for PN and continue the green wave momentum," he said when met today.
Meanwhile, Hanafiah said PN is keeping high hopes for voters at Felda settlements in the constituency to support Ahmad Samsuri to win with a bigger majority.
"The second and third generation of Felda settlers have now shifted their support towards Pas, but the first generation continues to be loyal towards Umno," he said.
Meanwhile, Hanafiah claimed there appears to be a split within Umno after Barisan Nasional (BN) picked a direct candidate instead of naming a candidate from within the Kemaman Umno division hierarchy.
"Some people in Umno are saying the BN candidate is not from the Kemaman division. It is as though not a single leader in Kemaman is qualified to contest in the by-election," he said, hoping the internal issues will favour Pas.
BN had named former Armed Forces chief General (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor to contest in Kemaman.
On Nov 24, Pas vice-president Datuk Idris Ahmad said the party is anticipating another whopping majority victory in the by-election, surpassing the 27,000-vote majority achieved during the 15th general election. (https://www.nst.com.my/news/politics/2023/11/982306/pas-confident-surpas...)
The Kemaman parliamentary seat by-election is a straight fight between Raja Mohamed Affandi and Ahmad Samsuri, who is also the Pas vice-president.
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.