The opposition will try to "frighten" the Malays into supporting them, said Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Mohamad Isa Abdul Samad today.

He alleged that the opposition will seek to manipulate racial issues such as the building of Hindu temples in Malay areas if they vote for an Indian candidate.

"There is no issue here except racial issues that will be stirred up by the opposition," he said during a press conference after the nomination of the candidates for the Teluk Kemang by-election was confirmed.

Earlier, both candidates from the Barisan Nasional and Barisan Alternatif were accepted by the Election Commission's Returning Officer Hasan Nawawi Abdul Rahman.

BN is fielding S. Sothinathan, a former political secretary of MIC president Samy Vellu, while BA is represented by KeADILan's information chief Ruslan Kassim.

Today, The Star reported Isa as saying that "the opposition front is expected to sway Malay voters to their side" and that he will "explain to voters to avoid starting a trend where Malay voters should only vote for a Malay candidate".

However, despite allegations that the opposition's strategy of fielding a Malay candidate is "racially motivated", Ruslan conceded that he will need the support of all voters, regardless of race.

"As KeADILan is a multiracial party, it does not matter if the party fields a Malay candidate," he said.

Ruslan admitted that the by-election is "not an easy task but nothing is impossible".

KeADILan's vice-president Tian Chua, who was present at the nomination centre today, described the charges that the opposition is whipping up racial sentiments in Teluk Kemang as "ridiculous".

"What about the many instances when Umno fields Malay candidates in Malay-majority areas? Isn't that racially motivated?" he asked.

MIC's Sothinathan (left) faces KeADILan's Ruslan in the Teluk Kemang contest.

Pix: COLIN NICHOLAS

Today's nomination in the Port Dickson district office went without any untoward incident. The presence of police and the Federal Reserves Unit kept the supporters from both sides under control.

The BN supporters occupied a more prominent waiting area in front of the district office main gate where BN's candidate Sothinathan was ushered into the nomination centre by throngs of supporters. Ruslan, however, entered the nomination centre via a side gate.

Many BN leaders and some of their supporters were also escorted into the vicinity of the nomination centre where they were allocated an air-conditioned "VIP room" where party heavyweights later gave a press conference.

Apart from Isa, other leaders from the BN side included Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak and Penang Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon.

Among the opposition figures were KeADILan president Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, deputy president Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, Opposition Leader and PAS president Fadzil Noor, PRM president Dr. Syed Husin Ali and DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock.

BA is expected to face an uphill task in the contest since BN won the seat by a majority of 9,942 in last November's general elections.

According to the voters records, Teluk Kemang has 66,646 voters, with Malays accounting for about 45.44 percent, Chinese 33.23 percent, Indians 20.64 percent, and others 0.7 percent.

In a related matter, Badawi said that the Japanese Encephalitis outbreak is not a "big issue anymore", in reply to a question from malaysiakini during a press conference.

"The government has decided to compensate those affected long ago," he said, adding that the recent compensation given out to the affected pig farmers in Port Dickson has "nothing to do" with the impending by-election, to be held on June 10.

On Sunday, about 468 pig farmers finally received their compensation of RM70 for every pig culled during the outbreak of the JE and Nipah viruses last year. During the presentation of cheques, BN candidate Sothinathan was introduced to the affected villagers.

Health Minister Chua Jui Meng, who was also present at the nomination centre, told malaysiakini that some RM 31 million was given to the pig farmers last week.

Nevertheless, KeADILan's Tian Chua believed that the JE issue has not been fully resolved. According to him, the government has yet to release a public report on the matter and the issue was not dealt in a wholistic manner.

"The compensation did not solve the whole issue," he said.

"What about those who died in the outbreak? What about those whose lives are broken, those who are disabled, and those who lost their jobs and family members?" he asked.