BUKIT MERTAJAM – PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s presence at SK Seri Penanti in Permatang Pauh caused a brief commotion as a crowd rushed to greet him at the semi-rural constituency here.
Anwar, 75, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate in Tambun, had come to cast his ballot in Permatang Pauh, where he is a registered voter.
He was initially queueing with the others around 9am but voters there, upon recognising him, began to break their lines to greet him.
To make matters worse, media practitioners also began crowding around the same spot, causing congestion.
To disperse the crowd, Seberang Perai Tengah district police chief Tan Cheng San sought permission from Election Commission (EC) officers to allow Anwar to break queue and vote faster before the crowd got bigger.
Anwar was then ushered in to cast his ballot and later came out to apologise to the voters.
“I’m sorry I had to go ahead as I did not want to create an unnecessary crowd here.”
He told the media that he was driving to Tambun to show support to voters there.
The Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat is witnessing a four-cornered clash where incumbent Nurul Izzah Anwar, 42, (PH) will go against Datuk Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said, 53, (Barisan Nasional), Muhammad Fawwaz Mat Jan, 39 (Perikatan Nasional) and Mohamad Nasir Othman, 64 (Gerakan Tanah Air).
Nurul Izzah had maintained PH’s dominance in Permatang Pauh, since 1998, when she won the last general election in 2018 with a majority of 15,668 votes.
In Langkawi, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed was up early with his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali.
After having breakfast at the Ombak Villa Resort, he personally drove around the island to inspect the voting centres there.
He told The Vibes that he was willing to give up his struggle to better the island resort if the voters here reject him this time.
He said there is much work left to be done in nation building but the voters must first understand what needs to be done.
Later, the couple flew over to Titi Gajah in Kedah to vote there before they fly back to the Pejuang headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to monitor the election’s outcome.
The results are expected to be tallied and released from 8pm onwards throughout the country.
In Perlis, Indera Kayangan candidate from PH Gan Ay Ling voted at SK Seri Perlis in Kangar around 10am where she said she was pleased to see the encouraging turnout.
The average voter turnout in the northern region of Penang, Kedah and Perlis, around noon was around 40% based on the projection given by the EC here.
Kebun Bunga assemblyman Jason Ong Khan Lee said he was not informed of any floods in Penang and the weather was good so far. – The Vibes, November 19, 2022.
