She told Bernama that the three-cornered contest was not easy to win and the Pakatan Harapan machinery would have to work hard to influence voters in the area before polling next Saturday.

“We must understand that it is difficult for a new political party to penetrate the market because the Malaysian political system is based on first-past-the-post not on a system of proportional representation and on top of that the mainstream media is not helping.

“Due to that, apart from selecting a local candidate, we have to work very hard and wear the Amanah shirts to introduce the candidate’s logo,” she said while while campaigning for the Amanah candidate at Sungai Besar main market today.

Under Malaysia’s election system the candidate with the most votes is elected, even if by a majority of only one vote. Proportional representation grants seats to parties in proportion to the number of votes cast for them.

Nurul Izzah said that Pakatan Harapan would be more sensitive while campaigning during the fasting month, especially after controversy over provocative billboards placed by the DAP around Sekinchan town.

Amanah’s candidate, Azhar Abdul Shukur, faces Budiman Mohd Zohdi of Barisan Nasional and Meru assemblyman Dr Abdul Rani Osman of PAS.

The seat fell vacant on the death of the MP, Noriah Kasnon, deputy minister of plantation industries and commodities, in a helicopter crash in Sarawak on May 5.

Sungai Besar has 42,655 registered voters of whom 67 per cent are Malay voters, 30 per cent Chinese, and 2 per cent Indian and other communities.

— BERNAMA