• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
The Nut Graph

The Nut Graph

Making Sense of Politics & Pop Culture

  • Projects
    • MP Watch
    • Found in Conversation
  • Current Issues
    • 6 Words
    • Commentary
    • Features
    • Found in Quotation
    • News
  • Columns
  • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Found in Malaysia
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Pictures
    • Videos
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Vault
    • Found in Translation

BN-less Penanti still a diverse contest

By Shanon Shah

May 23, 2009


Dr Mansor Othman
BUTTERWORTH, 23 May 2009: Despite the Barisan Nasional (BN) not contesting, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will still have to face an intriguing challenge from three very different independent candidates.

There would have been a fourth to contend with, Mohd Saberi Othman, 49, but the Election Commission (EC) disqualified him after finding that he is bankrupt.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s Dr Mansor Othman, 59, will now have to face an ex-Penang PKR Wanita chief, an ex-Gerakan local leader, and an ex-by-election contender.

Aminah Abdullah, the only woman in the contest, however, said her quarrel is not with Mansor.

Aminah Abdullah with family
Aminah Abdullah with family

“Personally, we are on good terms with Mansor, but we have grievances with the party especially the Penang leadership,” Aminah’s campaign manager and husband Mohd Rofi Osman said.

A former Bukit Bendera KeAdilan chief himself, Rofi quit the party in 2007 — the same year Aminah did.

“We will be focusing on door-to-door canvassing, because ceramahs don’t really work with voters here,” said Aminah.

On the other side of the ex-party divide is former Teluk Wang Gerakan youth chief Nai Khan Ari Nai Keow.

Nai Khan Ari

“I quit the party on 19 May because even though the BN did not want to contest in Penanti, I did,” he told reporters, adding that he was not sponsored by the BN.

The Thai Malaysian local said, “I was a member of Gerakan for three years, and I did not leave because I had problems with the party, but because my desire to contest was that strong.”

Nai Khan Ari said his selling point would be his multi-cultural advantage, being able to speak Thai, Chinese, English and Bahasa Malaysia.

Kamarul Ramizu Idris, however, is still part of a party, albeit a yet-to-be recognised one — Parti Iman SeMalaysia (PIS).

“I contested in Bukit Gantang and lost, but I am contesting again in Penanti because I want to spread the word of PIS,” he told reporters after nominations closed.

When asked if he would consider also contesting in Manik Urai, Kelantan, he said, “Maybe that’s a little too far.”


Kamarul Ramizu Idris
Like Nai Khan Ari and Aminah, Kamarul also said he was a truly independent candidate, not sponsored by any established political party.

When asked what his campaign logo was, he said it was the same as the one he used in Bukit Gantang — the umbrella.

“The umbrella has many uses. In Taiping, it was because that is a place with very high rainfall. Penanti now is very hot, and an umbrella would be useful here too,” he said.

Aminah’s campaign logo is a key, while Nai Khan Ari’s logo is a wau bulan (traditional kite).

When asked how he planned to sway voters to his side, PKR’s Mansor simply said, “I promise to serve the people.”

On how he would try to persuade voters to come out and cast their ballots on 31 May, he said, “That’s the job of the party’s machinery.”

Polling day is on 31 May.

The by-election is being held following the resignation of incumbent assemblyperson and former Deputy Chief Minister I Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin.

Penanti Ethnic composition 2008

Penanti has 15,384 registered voters, 72.68% of whom are Malay Malaysians, 24.22% Chinese Malaysians, 2.39% Indian Malaysian and 0.71% from other communities. Favicon

See also:

Underneath the hot Penanti Sky

Nomination day in Penanti

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related Stories

Filed Under: News Tagged With: aminah abdullah, by-election, candidates, Dr Mansor Othman, Kamarul Ramizu Idris, Nai Khan Ari, nomination day, Penanti, pis

Primary Sidebar

Search

Twitter

My Tweets

Recent Comments

  • Wave33 on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Adam on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Andre Lai on The Nut Graph stops publication

Recent News

  • The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Nasihat tentang sepupu yang mengganggu perasaan
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The Sunni-Shia split and the answer to Muslim unity
  • Why Malaysia needs the national unity bills
  • Challenging government in the digital age: Lessons from Kidex
  • Najib’s failure
  • Babi, anjing, pondan: Jijik orang Islam Malaysia
  • Kidex and the law – What the government’s not telling you
  • Beyond Dyana Sofya
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Does Malaysia need hate speech laws?

Tags

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Anwar Ibrahim Barisan Nasional BN Bukit Selambau by-election dap Deborah Loh Ding Jo-Ann Election Commission elections Found in Malaysia Found in Quotation Gan Pei Ling government high court Hishammuddin Hussein ISA islam Jacqueline Ann Surin Khairy Jamaluddin KW Mak Lim Guan Eng Malaysia MCA Menteri Besar MP Watch Muhyiddin Yassin muslim Najib Razak Pakatan Rakyat Parliament Parti Keadilan Rakyat pas Penang Perak PKR police politics prime minister Selangor Shanon Shah Umno Wong Chin Huat Zedeck Siew

Footer

  • About The Nut Graph
  • Who Are We?
  • Our Contributors
  • Past Contributors
  • Guest Contributors
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments & Columns
  • Copyright Policy
  • Web Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
The Nut Graph

© 2023 The Nut Graph