KOTA BARU, April 16- Former Umno strongman Annuar Musa is poised to make a remarkable comeback in the state when he is expected to be named as the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Ketereh parliament seat later today.
Annuar, 57, has made a relatively strong rebound after he was speculated to have fallen out of favour by the party’s leadership three years ago. During that time, he had plunged himself into the duties of spearheading the fortunes of the Kelantan Football Association, and sparked what is now locally called the “gelombang merah” movement.
The movement, which consists of ardent football fans and associates, has grown to become a symbol of Kelantan’s fanatical support for anything about the state as well as a sense of pride for the people, who have long felt sidelined. Their plight was made worst as the politics of polarisation and religion, divided the state for over two decades.
Kelantan, is perceived to be one of the most backward states where millions of its sons and daughters are working outside the state, namely in the Klang Valley due to the lack of good jobs. Annuar is credited with engineering the movement as well as bringing some much needed momentum to the state Umno machinery, which subsequently witnessed a rise in crowd support at its political rallies, held throughout the state.
His classmate Md Alwi Che Ahmad is expected to defend the Kok Lanas state seat. Alwi has rose to become a popular orator here following his appointment as the state opposition leader as well as one of the candidates, who possess strong religious credentials since his father was a well known ulama.
The duo are expected to make their presence felt in the largely farming constituency of Ketereh, where both are regarded as community leaders there. Annuar is likely to do battle with his ex-comrade Ab Aziz Ab Kadir, who joined PKR in 2008 after falling out with the former in the Ketereh Umno division.
Mustapa for two seats
Other candidates to be featured are Umno-linked ulama, who are expected to challenge the religious figures in PAS. Among them are Mohd Fakhrurazi Abdul Rahim and Mohd Syamsul Yusof Al Hafiz. State BN chairman Mustapa Mohamed is expected to defend both his Jeli parliamentary and Ayer Lanas state seats.
His politics of preaching unity has brought new support from among the young voters and fence-sitters, but whether it can translate into votes, remains to be seen. Others who are expected to be retained are Mustapa’s deputy Dr Awang Adek Hussin, who is expected to be fielded in the Bachok parliamentary seat after losing previously to the former PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa.
Mohd Fatmi Che Salleh, a political secretary to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, is also expected to be re-fielded in the Kota Baru parliamentary despite losing to PAS strategist Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah in the last term.
Kelantan MCA secretary Tan Ken Ten will contest the Kota Lama state seat – the only constituency where a non-Malay is contesting Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is also expected to be fielded in the Gua Musang parliament for a record of sorts. One surprise is the likely return of Nik Sapeia Nik Yusoff, the state PPP chairman, who is to stand in the Manek Urai state seat.
Nik Sapeia was cleared of any wrongdoing after he was alleged to have dispense contents from a pepper spray at the airport here, which had temporary caused hurt to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the latter’s visit in 2006.
PAS remains favourite
Businessman Che Johan Che Pa is expected to contest in the Pasir Mas parliament. He was once mentored by Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, a seasoned leader in Pasir Mas.
The fate of Ibrahim remains unknown for now as he refuses to answer his handphone despite earlier declaring that he will defend his Pasir Mas seat via an arrangement with a political bloc.
BN candidates to be unveiled later will provide Umno with a balance of ulama, technocrats, administrators as well as young upstarts.
PAS remains the favourite to retain the state as despite ailing Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat remains a powerful presence in the state, owing to his dual role as PAS spiritual adviser and Kelantan mentri besar.
