MERLIMAU: With time running out for parties contesting in the Merlimau by-election, efforts are being taken by both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat to woo voters in time for polling today.
While the main leaders of both BN and Pakatan have been zig-zagging around this contituency to garner support, efforts are also being undertaken to influence voters through indirect means.
BN-aligned national Youth movement Belia 4B took campaigning to a new level by canvassing school students to influence their parents to vote for BN candidate Umno’s Roslan Ahmad.
The movement, along with representatives from Umno, met a group of secondary school students at Kampung Ayer Merbau yesterday to urge these youngsters to convince their parents to vote for Roslan.
The students were also told that only the BN could guarantee peace while there will be racial strife under Pakatan rule.
When FMT approached some of the students who were at the meeting, they said that they were given RM20, a national flag and a T-shirt each for attending the meeting.
A Form 2 boy, who requested anonymity, said that he and his friends were induced by the cash to attend the meeting. He added that they had also attended other events where they were given food.
“I wish we have by-elections very often here in Merlimau. Ever since nomination day, my friends and I had not eaten at home as we had had so many BN dinners to go to,” he said.
He also added that some secondary students were also used by local leaders (from both BN and Pakatan) to put up banners and posters. They were paid for their work.
Students as phantom voters
The student added that most of them recognised Roslan as the candidate and had no idea of the PAS candidate.
“There are no PAS flags in my place. I don’t know who is the PAS candidate,” he said.
In another development, PAS is claiming that BN had paid 750 Merlimau polytechnic students to be phantom voters.
Online newsportal The Malaysian Insider quoted PAS Merlimau election chief Halim Abdul Rahman who accused BN of using these students to vote by using identity cards of registered voters in Merlimau.
The by-election will be a straight fight between PAS’s Yuhaizat Abdullah and Roslan.
The outcome of the polls will not alter the composition of the BN-held state assembly. At present, BN controls 23 of the state seats, while DAP is the only opposition with five.
The late Mohamad Hidhir Abu Hassan retained the Merlimau seat in the last general election by defeating PAS’s Jasme Tompang by a majority of 2,154 votes.
Merlimau is located within the Jasin parliamentary constituency, a stronghold of BN, which won all the five state seats in the 2008 general election.
