The Barisan Nasional and PAS candidates contesting in tomorrow's Anak Bukit by-election in Kedah said the situation in the area was peaceful contrary to media reports of violence and mud-slinging.

"Unlike the situation during the Lunas by-election (in Kedah) which was messy, I consider the situation here peaceful," BN candidate Zakaria Said said in a telephone interview today.

He also praised the police for doing a good job in maintaining peace and security during the eight-day campaign period.

"I urge everyone to come and vote tomorrow," the 58-year-old former teacher added.

During the November 2000 Lunas by-election, BN alleged that opposition supporters employed strong-arm tactics to disrupt their campaign, among them, preventing a BN bus from entering the town on polling day.

However, the opposition claimed that the bus was full of phantom voters. The state seat was eventually won by Keadilan by a slim majority.

Concurring with Zakaria, PAS candidate Amiruddin Hamzah said the situation was not as bad as how the media portrayed it to be.

"There were no cases of bodily harm here unlike in Indera Kayangan," he told malaysiakini.

The 40-year-old engineer was referring to reports that Keadilan campaign workers for the January by-election in Perlis were allegedly assaulted by BN supporters.

The Indera Kayangan seat was won by retired headmistress Oui Ah Lan of BN.

Personal attacks

Despite the assurance by candidates that the situation was calm, the media has been painting a gloomy picture of the happenings in Anak Bukit.

In an analysis today, government-controlled daily Berita Harian said the campaign was getting 'dirtier' with rampant mud-slinging and personal attacks against BN leaders, namely Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

According to the Malay daily, PAS supporters also 'aggressively' prevented BN campaign workers from carrying out their duties.

Another such daily, Utusan Malaysia, said the various threats from PAS failed to break the spirit of BN supporters.

Commenting further, Zakaria explained that it was common for PAS, when they run out of issues, to resort to personal attacks against their rivals.

"It shows they no longer have any [political] capital," he said, adding that he is confident that BN will win the seat.

'Drama'

However, Amiruddin claimed that it was BN which perpetrated the 'violence' that was reported in the media.

"The violence which was purportedly committed by opposition supporters is what BN and Umno are doing. But, they are putting the blame on us," he said.

The opposition candidate said this was happening because the government controls the media.

"If the allegations were true, why were there no follow-ups on the cases?" he asked, adding that the whole thing could be a drama.

Nonetheless, he conceded that like any other election, there will be disputes between opposing supporters.

He said a common thing is squabbles among rival campaign workers wanting to put up posters of their respective party candidates at the most visible spot.

When contacted later, a spokesperson from the Kedah police headquarters, DSP Zainuddin Zainal, said the situation in Anak Bukit and neighbouring Pendang which is also going to the polls tomorrow, is under control.

"Although there were several incidents, these were isolated cases and have no effect on the overall situation," he explained.

The by-elections for the Anak Bukit state and Pendang parliamentary seats were called for following the death of PAS president and Opposition Leader Fadzil Noor last month.

Pendang will also see a straight fight between PAS and BN, represented by Dr Mohd Hayati Othman, 45, and Othman Abdul, 51, respectively.

Meanwhile, an official from the Meteorological Department in Petaling Jaya said the weather in Kedah is expected to be good tomorrow.