SHAH ALAM - With only one day remaining, Pas candidate Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar is reportedly ahead in the Kemaman Parliamentary by-election campaign, according to research firm Ilham Centre.
However, Ilham Centre executive director Hisommudin Bakar said Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate General (B) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor posed a formidable challenge to the Pas heavyweight.
"Based on our observations, Samsuri's presence during the campaign was more favourable than that of BN candidate, but Raja Mohamed Affandi's presence could not be underestimated by the opposing party," he told Sinar.
The firm's survey also found a bleak mood among the 141,790 voters in the constituency.
"No hot issues were raised during these 13 days, except for the rainy day and overcast which made the Kemaman by-election campaign 'cooling'.
"The weather factor limited voters and the machinery from participating more actively in this by-election," he said.
Hisommudin added that the presence of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the constituency did not have a significant impact on the voters in the constituency.
He said the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-BN alliance machinery, promising development aligned with the government, was seen as too general, with no local issues being raised.
In comparison to Pas, he said the segment that has a significant impact and contributed to the majority of votes to the party was the youths.
He added that Pas' majority votes obtained in 15th General Election (GE15) was expected to decline.
"In this by-election, achieving the voter turnout percentage as high as in GE15 may be difficult.
"Logically, the majority this time will decrease not due to a change in support patterns but rather because of a lower voter turnout," he said, adding that Pas' mission was to maintain success to prove that support could not be challenged by PH-BN," he said.
Hisommudin also anticipated a 65 per cent voter turnout tomorrow.
In GE15, Pas, represented by candidate Che Alias Hamid won with a majority of 27,179 votes garnering 65,714 votes.
Che Alias defeated BN candidate and Terengganu Umno chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, who obtained 38,535 votes, PH candidate Hasuni Sudin with 8,340 votes and Pejuang candidate Rosli Ab Ghani with 506 votes.
The polling day was set on Dec 2 (Saturday), following the Terengganu Election Court's decision which nullified the victory of Che Alias after finding evidence of bribery to voters during the campaign period.