PUSA: Mohammad Arifiriazul Paijo may be PAS’ sole candidate in the Sarawak polls, but alone he is not.
He has the support of a strong team working the ground at each of the nine localities in Beting Maro, the seat where he is contesting.
“Party leaders have also been supportive. Despite not being able to come and campaign for me, they constantly keep in touch to find out how I am doing and to lend moral support,” he said when contacted.
Mohammad Arifiriazul started doing groundwork and preparing for the elections months ahead.
“We have been making phone calls to get connected with voters. During the campaign period, we carried out intensive campaigning on social media,” he said.
Beting Maro is located some 170km from Kuching.
The 37-year-old businessman also said his team covered nearly all areas in Beting Maro and reached out to locals.
“I am only left with just one more locality that I haven’t visited – Muton, which I will be doing tomorrow (today),” added Mohammad Arifiriazul.
The sole PAS candidate is confident of achieving better results for his party.
“Each candidate has an equal chance because there are many issues that can affect how locals vote. This is the fifth time PAS is contesting in Beting Maro and from our observation, support has increased and we anticipate to see a further increase in votes this time too,” he said.
In the 2016 state election, PAS’ Hamidah Mokhtar garnered 3,051 votes against Barisan Nasional’s Razaili Gapor’s 4,758 votes while Amanah candidate Andri Zulkarnaen Hamden only managed 103 votes.
The seat will see a five-cornered fight between Mohammad, Parti Bumi Kenyalang’s Jacky Chiew, PKR’s Abang Zulkifli Abang Engkeh, Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s Razaili Gapor and an Independent candidate Safiudin Matsah.
Beting Maro is one of the 64 rural state seats where physical campaigning is allowed due to poor Internet coverage. In the previous Sarawak state election in 2016, PAS contested 11 seats and lost all.