Day 4: On the campaign trail

Here are some snippets from the sidelines of the various candidates’ campaigns.

Rafidah: Women need not vote for women

Wanita Umno chief Rafidah Aziz who often called on the people to support women leaders did the opposite today when she visited Permatang Pauh in Penang.

“We women do not necessarily have to vote for women. You vote for the party which brings you benefits and (and you vote) based on the candidate’s track record. Don’t vote for a person just because she is a woman,” she told reporters at the Umno Permatang Pauh office today.

She was asked to comment on Umno’s chances of wresting the seat from PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, as about half of the voters in the constituency are women.

Umno is fielding former National Mosque imam Pirdaus Ismail to take on Wan Azizah for the second time. Pirdaus was also present at the press conference today.

Wan Azizah have held Permatang Pauh since 1999 after her husband, Anwar Ibrahim, was jailed on charges of corruption and sodomy.

Highest rocket in Penang

The DAP launched its highest ‘rocket’ in Penang’s Bukit Mertajam today to encourage more
women voters to cast their votes on the March 8 general election.

The zinc-sheet rocket, which is 12 metres high, is erected to mark March 8, International Women’s Day, which is incidently polling day.

The ‘rocket’ was an initiative from the DAP supporters, said party’s Berapit state seat candidate Ong Kok Fooi.

On Sunday, the party launched a seven-metre ‘rocket’ at the heart of Georgetown.

Jeff Ooi under fire

Outgoing Penang chief minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon has criticised DAP’s Jelutong candidate Jeff Ooi for being “irresponsible” in claiming the state’s economy performance has gone worse.

Ooi, and other DAP leaders in their election campaign has among others highlighted the state’s foreign direct investment has dropped from the country’s top place in 1999 to the fifth at present.

Launching the Penang state government’s report card today, Koh named Ooi as being “ignorant” in saying so. The chief minister however did not reveal any statistics to rebut Ooi.

Koh claimed Ooi, a popular blogger-turned-politician, would not know the real situation on the state’s economy as the former is not from Penang.