==> Pls visit new site at http://malaysia-today.net/ <==

(The Nut Graph) WITH nomination day concluded, the contest for Manik Urai is officially a two-way fight.

The Kelantan state assembly seat has only 12,293 voters, of which 99.2% are Malay Malaysian. It is the smallest and most homogenous fight we've seen this year, and its election history doesn't immediately hint at a head-to-head contest.

In the 2008 general election, for example, PAS took eight of Manik Urai's nine ballot boxes, with an overall 1,352-vote majority. PAS's Mohd Fauzi Abdullah, a fish wholesaler by trade, is the current favourite.

Still, the circumstances surrounding this by-election, to be held on 14 July 2009, warrants a closer look at how voters will throw their support in this seventh by-election since the March 2008 general election.

Bread and butter

Abdul Fatah According to PAS's Manik Urai by-election operations chief Abdul Fatah Harun, the by-election will test whether Malay Malaysians in this Kelantan constituency prefer Umno or PAS.

"Actually, this seat is not really our stronghold," Abdul Fatah admits. "We can [only] say that PAS members have been consistent [in winning]."

Read more at: http://www.thenutgraph.com/testing-pass-strength

Comments (1)