Why is 'suratkhabar lama' in town?

As a police helicopter circled above their heads, PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim and party vice-president Azmin Ali rallied voters to give their candidate the mandate on the eve of the Bukit Selambau by-election.

When the heavy rain subsided, some 3,000 people gathered to hear the opposition leaders speak on the last night of campaigning.

Azmin trained his guns on former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who hit the campaign trail today in a bid to sway votes for Barisan Nasional candidates in both Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang.

"Umno has a new president, a new deputy and there is a shift in leadership. So why must they bring the 'suratkhabar lama' (old newspaper) to campaign?" he asked, drawing laughter from the audience.
"From this we know that Najib (Abdul Razak) is not leading the country and the party… it seems like Mahathir is," he said.

"Have they forgotten that it was Mahathir who ruined the judiciary and the legislative and he was the one behind revoking the immunity for the Malay sultans," he added.

No hatred for Najib

Meanwhile, Anwar said PKR bears no hatred for the newly minted prime minister or his predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but is focused on bringing about change.

Commenting on PKR's decision to field greenhorn S Manikumar for the Bukit Selambau seat, he conceded that the former is inexperienced.

"He may be inexperienced but we have an ex-deputy prime minister in PKR and members of parliament who can help him learn fast. We chose Manikumar because he is capable," he said.

Anwar also urged voters not to take the by-election lightly, because "one seat is enough for them (BN) to cause more trouble."

"So let's put an end to their arrogance and corruption. Make sure to vote for candidate number 4," he said.

Manikumar will be taking on BN-MIC candidate S Ganesan and a record number of 13 independent candidates.

The seat fell vacant after PKR incumbent V Arumugam quit, paving the way for the by-election.

Apart from Kedah's Bukit Selambau, two more by-elections will be held simultaneously in Bukit Gantang (Perak) and Batang Ai (Sarawak).

In a related development, PKR election strategist Saifuddin Nasution told a press conference later that the party is confident of retaining the seat.

"The chances are very good, we can go beyond 10,000 (vote majority)," he said, adding that the independents are not a major concern.