KEMAMAN: A lukewarm atmosphere is being felt across the Kemaman parliamentary constituency after two weeks of campaigning which is in its last day today.
Uncertain weather conditions with the current monsoon spell and Pas' superior majority victory during the 15th General Election (GE15) could have been among the drawbacks.
There were occasions when ceramah programmes held during the nights only witnessed a handful of people as the audience but both the contesting parties, Barisan Nasional and Pas played down the matter saying that the speeches were aired live on social media.
Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who is the Perikatan Nasional candidate, has been busy juggling his time between campaigning in Kemaman, dealing with floods which affected several areas across the state last week and attending the state legislative assembly sitting in Kuala Terengganu which ended yesterday.
Samsuri, who is also Pas vice-president, usually campaigns in Kemaman during the evenings and will stay back to attend a ceramah event at night before returning to Kuala Terengganu.
On the final day today, he appears to be more relaxed as he is only scheduled to attend Isyak prayers and a "solat hajat Perdana" event at Arena Square here at 8pm before heading to PN's "Ceramah Perdana grand finale" programme an hour later.
Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional's direct candidate General (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor, who has been on a packed campaign schedule from sunrise till late night since Nov 18, continues campaigning as usual today.
Just like previously, Raja Affandi has been attending back-to-back programmes after performing Subuh prayers. Today's agenda includes a sports event, walkabout sessions, meeting veteran soldiers and gathering with youths before his last programme at the Kemasik district polling centre at 9pm.
Since Nov 18, Kemaman had witnessed the presence of political leaders from BN, Pakatan Harapan and PN with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also making time to visit the constituency amidst his busy schedule attending Parliament on Nov 28.
The big guns have also been rolled out by PN, with the finishing touches at tonight's "Ceramah Perdana grand finale" programme at Padang Astaka Kemaman, where two-time prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was recently appointed the unofficial adviser to the four PN-controlled states, to attend.
He will be joined by PN chairman and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau.
Kemaman has a total of 141,790 eligible voters including some 7,000 Chinese and 800 Indian voters. BN lost the seat by more than a 27,000 majority in GE15.
The Kemaman parliamentary seat by-election is a straight fight between Ahmad and Raja 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 in the GE15.