LABUAN – There are just six days left before polling day, but the flag and poster war in the contest for the Labuan parliamentary seat has only just begun to intensify.
Party machinery workers started putting up posters and campaign materials in large numbers in the wee hours of Thursday.
In Labuan, there will be a six-cornered contest between incumbent Datuk Rozman Isli from Warisan, Datuk Suhaili Abd Rahman of Perikatan Nasional (PN), Datuk Bashir Alias representing Barisan Nasional and Datuk Dr Ramli Tahir from Pakatan Harapan.
Two other candidates are Datuk Seri Ramle Mat Daly of Pejuang and the sole woman candidate in the ring, Dayang Rusimah @ Raynie Datuk Mohd Din from Parti Bangsa Malaysia.
Many parties are focusing their campaign war on the more urban areas of this duty-free island.
Warisan candidate Rozman is pulling out the stops, using all platforms available in his bid to defend the seat.
In addition to using social media platforms and also holding ceramah, he is the only one so far to have put up a billboard, located in downtown Labuan, while Suhaili has also reached out to the voters via ceramah.
The rest seemed to be content with flags, mini posters, and banners.
Suhaili, a two-term MP, officially launched his campaign and manifesto on November 10 at the PN command centre near the town centre.
Labuan Corporation chief executive officer Rithuan Ismail said all six candidates received permits to put up campaign materials between November 5 and 7.
He said candidates were required to pay a refundable RM5,000 deposit for this purpose.
Labuan police chief Ahmad Jawila, meanwhile, said a total of 18 permits for ceramah have been issued as of today.
“We hope party supporters continue to maintain public order,” he said when contacted. – Bernama, November 13, 2022
