By NNN-Bernama,
Hulu Selangor, Malaysia : As the curtain fell on campaigning in the Hulu Selangor by-election at Saturday midnight, both the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate P. Kamalanathan and his opponent Zaid Ibrahim of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) say they do not want to speculate on their chances in the by-election.
They said they would leave it to the voters to decide at the polls on Sunday.
Both men, looking tired after the gruelling eight-day campaign that took them to every corner of the vast constituency as big as Melaka, said the voters were the kingmakers.
Kamalanathan, 44, a public relations officer, said he had given his best and hoped that the voters would vote wisely.
“I have given my best … in fact, the BN machinery also gave its best and worked day and night to reach out to the voters. I hope the voters will not be swayed by the many lies of the opposition,” he said as he went on his final lap of campaigning with his wife, S. Shobana.
The constituency has 64,500 voters, including 799 postal voters.
Zaid, a former Kota Baharu MP and ex-minister, said he did not want to speculate on his chances in the by-election.
“I leave it to the voters to decide. It is my hope that the voters will decide what’s best for them,” he said.
The constituency has a total of 64,500 voters, 34,020 or 52.7 per cent of whom are Malays, 16,964 or 26.3 per cent Chinese, 12,453 or 19.3 per cent Indians and about 1,000 Orang Asli.
The seat fell vacant following the death of the MP, Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad of PKR, in March. Nomination was held on April 17.
Dr Zainal Abidin had won the seat in the 2008 general election with a 198-vote majority after beating MIC deputy president G. Palanivel who had held the seat for four terms.