PETALING JAYA: Football fever has gripped Kelantan, overshadowing the PKR supreme council election as it enters the second day today.
The voter turnout in five divisions in the east coast state was low as the talk was all about the big clash between Kelantan and Negri Sembilan in the Malaysia Cup final at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur tonight.
Many leaders in Kelantan expressed dismay over the greater interest shown in the football match than in the other “political match”.
Speaking to FMT today, Kubang Kerian deputy division chief Wan Mohd Aziz Wan Abdullah was disappointed that many young people have chosen football over PKR politics.
According to him, out of the 429 registered voters, only 50-odd people – mostly veteran leaders – turned up to do their bit.
“Many in the Youth wing have gone to Kuala Lumpur to watch the game. I am very disappointed. I feel the timing of the election was bad as it clashed with the match,” he said.
A football fan himself, Wan Mohd Aziz said he had to “sacrifice” his loyalty to his favourite team for the party.
“If I could go (and watch football), I would. But I have a responsibility to my party,” he told FMT.
‘Most voters are kaki bola’
The low voter turnout in the Bachok division was glaring as only 100 out of 2,440 voters turned up to cast their ballots.
“Most of the members are kaki bola (football fans). Besides, many of our members who registered here live outside Bachok. So it is hard for them to vote,” said division leader Mohd Yatim Ismail.
Meanwhile, only 200 members came out to vote in the Tanah Merah division despite having 1,200 registered voters.
“Many of them have gone to (Kuala Lumpur) to watch the football tonight,” said Tanah Merah assemblyman and division chief Amran Ghani.
In Ketereh, only about 100 out of 946 registered members came out to vote. According to Ketereh division chief and MP Abdul Aziz Abdul Kadir, football was the main reason for the poor turnout.
“The voters, mainly from the Youth wing, have gone to watch the game,” he said.
In Pasir Puteh, deputy division chief Raimin Rahman said only 108 voters out of 500 showed up.
He said this, too, was probably because of the “finals”.
More problems for Negri
Negri Sembilan, too, was caught up in the football mania but was further compounded by other problems that affected the turnout.
Rasah division chief, Muhammad Kamel Yasin, said that only 100 showed up although 2,000 members were eligible to vote. He blamed this on the “big game.”
“Besides football, heavy rain has also spoiled the day,” he said.
In Kuala Pilah, another problem cropped up. Its Youth division chief Pilah Sazarita Razali said there has been a miscommunication as many still did not understand the “one-member one-vote” concept.
“This is a small party, with a big responsibility. We still lack expertise in many things,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Jempol, 50 out of 700 eligible voters turned up at 5pm today. But this had nothing to do with football, said its Youth division chief Halim Azim.
“The majority of them are just keen in being active in party activities, but are not interested in the election process,” he said.
All in, 32 divisions have taken part in the elections today. Besides Kelantan and Negri Sembilan, the other divisions are from Pahang, Perak, Perlis and Kedah.
Meanwhile, PKR divisions in Sabah have postponed their election until Nov 6 to make way for Batu Sapi polls on Nov 4.
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