Straight fight for Permatang Pasir
The Permatang Pasir state seat by-election will see a straight fight between Barisan Nasional candidate Rohaizat Othman and PAS' Mohd Salleh Man.
Returning Officer Roslan Yahaya said that all 15 objections raised against the candidates were overruled, thus enabling them to face-off in the by-election on Aug 25.
A third potential candidate, independent Kamarul Ramizu Idris, was forced to sit out as he got delayed due to traffic jam in arriving at the nomination centre at the Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) Bukit Mertajam.
Earlier, Rohaizat was the first to submit his nomination papers for the Permatang Pasir state seat by-election this morning.
Rohaizat (right), the Permatang Pauh Umno division secretary, filed in his papers at about 9.03am at the nomination centre at Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) Bukit Mertajam.
Two minutes later at 9.05am, PAS candidate Mohd Salleh, who is the party's state commissioner, put in his papers.
Independent candidate Kamarul Ramizu Idris, earlier tipped to contest as well, pulled out at the last minute from contesting.
He arrived at the nomination centre at about 9.55am but did not file his nomination.
He claimed that he took a wrong route and got stuck in a traffic jam, thus leaving him little time to submit his papers on time.
An hour-long objection period started at the end of the nomination period at 10am before the returning officer made the official announcement.
The by-election is on Aug 25.
The Permatang Pasir seat fell vacant following the death of its incumbent Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman, from PAS, on July 31.
Early start for candidates, supporters
Leaders and supporters from both BN and Pakatan Rakyat have started gathering as early as 7am this morning at their respective meeting points.
Mohd Salleh's (right) camp was bolstered by about 200 supporters by 7.30am at their meeting point, just some 400 metres away from the nomination centre.
Among the leaders there were Pakatan's Perak menteri besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin and PAS deputy president Nasaruddin Mat Isa.
They were soon joined by Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim and other leaders while Mohd Salleh joined his supporters at about 7.55am.
By 8.20am, when this group started its slow march towards the nomination centre, its size was about 1,000, with many carrying PAS and DAP flags, but without the usual noise. Many of them were also seen wearing face masks with the words ‘PAS for all'.
Likewise, the police personnel on duty were also seen adorning face masks given out by health officers as a result of the growing fear of the fast spreading deadly influenze A(H1N1).
The PAS entourage arrived at the nomination centre at about 8.40am and waited for the nomination period to begin. While waiting, they were joined by Pakatan leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Meanwhile the BN entourage arrived at the nomination centre at about 8.55am with a crowd of about 500 people. Only their arrival managed to break the silence that was upheld by the Pakatan crowd which then started to jeer the other side.
BN leaders Muhyiddin Yassin, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, S Samy Vellu, Shahrizat Jalil, Koh Tsu Koon and Liow Tiong Lai accompanied candidate Rohaizat to the nomination centre.
Lawyer status questioned
Meanwhile the opposition has once again raised the issue of Rohaizat' status as a lawyer following reports that he had been struck off from the roll by the Bar Council for alleged misappropriation of clients' funds.
PKR's election bureau director and Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution said Rohaizat should explain and clarify the contentious issue.
"If it is true, what's the guarantee the same thing would not happen with the people's money if he were to be elected?" asked the PKR leader.
Rohaizat, 38, has said that the case was a ‘non-issue'.
However Saifuddin said the onus was on the BN candidate to explain his position now as a lawyer.
"Can he assure the people of Permatang Pasir that a similar case would not recur if he were to be elected given that he would then deal with large sums of constituency fund?" he asked.
On another matter, state police chief Ayub Yaakob said the nomination process had been smooth and peaceful with no untoward incident reported.
The Permatang Pasir state seat by-election will see a straight fight between Barisan Nasional candidate Rohaizat Othman and PAS' Mohd Salleh Man.
Returning Officer Roslan Yahaya said that all 15 objections raised against the candidates were overruled, thus enabling them to face-off in the by-election on Aug 25.
A third potential candidate, independent Kamarul Ramizu Idris, was forced to sit out as he got delayed due to traffic jam in arriving at the nomination centre at the Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) Bukit Mertajam.
Earlier, Rohaizat was the first to submit his nomination papers for the Permatang Pasir state seat by-election this morning.
Rohaizat (right), the Permatang Pauh Umno division secretary, filed in his papers at about 9.03am at the nomination centre at Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) Bukit Mertajam.
Two minutes later at 9.05am, PAS candidate Mohd Salleh, who is the party's state commissioner, put in his papers.
Independent candidate Kamarul Ramizu Idris, earlier tipped to contest as well, pulled out at the last minute from contesting.
He arrived at the nomination centre at about 9.55am but did not file his nomination.
He claimed that he took a wrong route and got stuck in a traffic jam, thus leaving him little time to submit his papers on time.
An hour-long objection period started at the end of the nomination period at 10am before the returning officer made the official announcement.
The by-election is on Aug 25.
The Permatang Pasir seat fell vacant following the death of its incumbent Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman, from PAS, on July 31.
Early start for candidates, supporters
Leaders and supporters from both BN and Pakatan Rakyat have started gathering as early as 7am this morning at their respective meeting points.
Mohd Salleh's (right) camp was bolstered by about 200 supporters by 7.30am at their meeting point, just some 400 metres away from the nomination centre.
Among the leaders there were Pakatan's Perak menteri besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin and PAS deputy president Nasaruddin Mat Isa.
They were soon joined by Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim and other leaders while Mohd Salleh joined his supporters at about 7.55am.
By 8.20am, when this group started its slow march towards the nomination centre, its size was about 1,000, with many carrying PAS and DAP flags, but without the usual noise. Many of them were also seen wearing face masks with the words ‘PAS for all'.
Likewise, the police personnel on duty were also seen adorning face masks given out by health officers as a result of the growing fear of the fast spreading deadly influenze A(H1N1).
The PAS entourage arrived at the nomination centre at about 8.40am and waited for the nomination period to begin. While waiting, they were joined by Pakatan leader Anwar Ibrahim.
Meanwhile the BN entourage arrived at the nomination centre at about 8.55am with a crowd of about 500 people. Only their arrival managed to break the silence that was upheld by the Pakatan crowd which then started to jeer the other side.
BN leaders Muhyiddin Yassin, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, S Samy Vellu, Shahrizat Jalil, Koh Tsu Koon and Liow Tiong Lai accompanied candidate Rohaizat to the nomination centre.
Lawyer status questioned
Meanwhile the opposition has once again raised the issue of Rohaizat' status as a lawyer following reports that he had been struck off from the roll by the Bar Council for alleged misappropriation of clients' funds.
PKR's election bureau director and Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution said Rohaizat should explain and clarify the contentious issue.
"If it is true, what's the guarantee the same thing would not happen with the people's money if he were to be elected?" asked the PKR leader.
Rohaizat, 38, has said that the case was a ‘non-issue'.
However Saifuddin said the onus was on the BN candidate to explain his position now as a lawyer.
"Can he assure the people of Permatang Pasir that a similar case would not recur if he were to be elected given that he would then deal with large sums of constituency fund?" he asked.
On another matter, state police chief Ayub Yaakob said the nomination process had been smooth and peaceful with no untoward incident reported.
17/08/09
No comments:
Post a Comment