HULU SELANGOR, May 7 — PAS has resorted to the stick in seeking to boost the voter turnout for the Kuala Kubu Baru state by-election in Selangor.

Its secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan told party members last night that they will be disciplined if they do not do their part to ensure the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition they belong to does well, even though the result will not lead to a change in the state government.

"It is haram for PAS members not to vote in Kuala Kubu Baru.

"This is not a fatwa but we are stressing it,” he said in the late night ceramah at Ampang Pechah here, hours before early voting began at 8am today for security personnel and their spouses.

The word "haram” in an Islamic context means prohibited or unlawful.

PN is eyeing a turnout of at least 80 per cent on polling day this Saturday.

Its Kuala Kubu Baru election chief, Datuk Seri Azmin Ali from Bersatu, believes a high voter turnout on that day will ensure PN’s victory.

When Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin took the stage at the PN ceramah last night, he told the mostly Malay audience that the coalition was doing its best to get the Malays to go out and vote.

He said low turnouts were endemic among the Malays, even though they formed the largest demographic group, and added that this must change.

"Our problem during the last election was that the turnout percentage of Malay voters, as said before, were low.

"Chinese voters are smarter as they know how to assess how important elections are as the voters turnout exceeded 80 per cent,” the former prime minister said.

He noted that Kuala Kubu Baru’s ethnic Chinese voters numbered roughly 30 per cent.

He added that it would be best if all races voted for PN.

But for all Muhyiddin’s talk of racial diversity, the coalition sent a clear message that leadership must be Malay-centric, as espoused by the PN candidate for Kuala Kubu Baru, Khairul Azhari Saut.

"If you want a Malay leader, vote for number one,” he said in his speech, likely referring to his number on the ballot paper.

What KKB voters think

Ampang Pechah has the second-highest Malay population in Kuala Kubu Baru and looked to have significant PN support based on the number of flags that have sprung up since campaigning began.

There were even children riding their bicycles around the neighbourhood with the PN flag strapped to their seats.

The ceramah last night, held in the middle of a parking lot beside a row of shophouses, was attended by around 200 people with a few non-Malays spotted though it was largely Malay families.

Considering the unpredictable weather these past few days, a tent had been erected to shield attendees in case of rain.

Amirul Yassir described himself as a PN supporter when approached for his political views.

The 27-year-old who was accompanied by his wife and a toddler acknowledged that the by-election won't change the state government, but said what’s important for him is that PN carries out what it promises in its manifesto.

An ethnic Indian attendee who gave her name only as Santhi said she is still unsure on who to vote for.

The 58-year-old said she has been attending various ceramah so she can make the right choice.

Similar to Amirul, Santhi said what was most important to her was voting in a candidate who can keep promises.

Another young Malay attendee who said she was 20-years-old and gave her name as Nur Aishah had been among the crowd who eagerly called out "Abah” — Malay for father — when Muhyiddin went on stage.

When approached by Malay Mail though for her political view, Aishah said was she was just accompanying a Kuala Kubu Baru voter who wanted to listen to the ceramah; she was there personally just to see former prime minister Muhyiddin in person.

Four people are competing to be the next Kuala Kubu Baru assemblyman.

Apart from PN’s Khairul Azhari, the others are Pang Sock Tao from PH, Hafizah Zainudin from Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM), and an independent Nyau Ke Xin.

The Kuala Kubu Baru seat fell vacant following the death of its three-term assemblyman, Lee Kee Hiong, on March 21 due to cancer.

She defeated three other candidates from PN, PRM and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) by a majority of 4,119 votes in last August’s Selangor state election.