Pakatan Rakyat candidate Mohd Salleh Man, 55, contesting the Permatang Pasir by-election is from PAS.
He faces off Barisan Nasional and Umno challenger, Rohaizat Othman, 38, who is hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons.
But candidates aside, there is one man who stands head and shoulders above others in Permatang Pasir state constituency – Permatang Pauh parliamentarian Anwar Ibrahim.
Apart from certain areas with hardcore PAS voters, Anwar remained the biggest crowd puller.
The non-Malay voters are virtually Anwar loyalists. They are simply mesmerised by his oratory skills and anti-BN jibes.
Like Permatang Pauh by-election last year, some 90 per cent of the constituency’s nearly 5,800 non-Malay votes should go for PAS, largely due to Anwar.
The PKR de facto leader Anwar won Permatang Pauh by-election last August by a 15,671-landslide majority, securing 31,195 votes against his nearest challenger from Umno Arif Shah Omar Shah’s 15,524,
Relatively unknown Hanafi Hamat from Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (Akim) lost his RM15,000 deposit with mere 92 votes.
Anwar garnered more than 13,000 votes in Permatang Pasir constituency.
In several Pakatan rallies held in current by-election in pre-dominantly non-Malay areas, Anwar had appealed to voters to give full support to PAS state commissioner Mohd Salleh.
“Give him the same support you have been giving me,” Anwar said at last night rain-affected rally Kampung Cross Street, Bukit Mertajam.
Even Barisan Nasional leaders and grassroots campaigners tacitly conceded that Anwar would be the major difference in the contest.
“This is his territory. He is the towering political figure here,” admitted an Umno local leader.
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