Strong turnout in 'city of civil servants' as PAS begins Putrajaya campaign

Apr 18: Pakatan Rakyat's quest for Putrajaya parliamentary seat got off to a roaring start last night as some 10,000 people in the administrative capital gathered to listen to PAS candidate Husam Musa at the party's first ceramah which also featured president Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang.

Husam engaged the crowd by repeating Barisan Nasional chairman Najib Razak's now-famous lines "Are you ready for BN?", and the crowd responded "No!", in the same way they answered Najib during BN's Chinese New Year open house last February.

"If this is the case, victory is ours. Who says Tengku Adnan (Tengku Mansor) cannot be defeated?" asked Husam.

Tengku Adnan, the UMNO secretary general renominated to defend the seat, had earlier boasted that Husam would lose by two-third majority.

Husam told the crowd who filled a football field in Desa Pinggiran Putra on his encounters with Putrajaya residents, most of whom civil servants who are long considered BN's vote bank.

"They would come and greet me, some even requested me to pose with them for pictures.

"I asked them, aren't you afraid of action being taken against you for posing with me? They replied, 'What's there to fear. There's a different Federal government on May 6," said Husam, followed by shouts of Takbir from the crowd.

Husam said he would invite revered Kelantan Menteri Besar Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat to lead the first Friday congregational prayer at the Putrajaya mosque after PR's takeover.

"The second week, we can invite Tuan Guru Haji Hadi, the third week we can invite (opposition leader) Anwar Ibrahim," he added.

On a more serious note, Husam touched about housing woes in Putrajaya, including the high cost of home ownership, as well as the need for Putrajaya to be equipped with a good Islamic education facility.
Husam, 54, a popular figure in Kelantan, is considered one of PAS's rising leaders. At the 2011 party polls, he was elected as its vice president, the second time he occupied the post. Having served as press secretary and later political secretary to the Kelantan MB, the University of Malaya graduate -  named in 2003 by popular news portal Malaysiakini as "Newsmaker of the Year" - was until recently in charge of Kelantan's Economic Planning, Finance and Welfare state exco.