PUTRAJAYA: Putrajaya represents the nation’s administrative nucleus and it is a parliamentary constituency by itself.
Covering an area of 4,931 hectares and lined up with impressive edifices, the constituency has been represented by Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor since 2004.
When former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad first envisaged Putrajaya, the idea was dismissed by the opposition who believed it was just a waste of tax payer’s money. In fact, in 1999, PAS had stated that the federal administrative capital would be auctioned to wealthy royalties from all over the world if it won the then-general election.
Yet, fate decreed otherwise, and as years went by, Putrajaya developed rapidly as the nexus of the administrative centre and pride of the nation. Surprisingly, the same party that saw the new administrative capital as a waste, now wants to represent the Putrajaya parliament seat.
The party’s eagerness in wresting the seat from BN is best reflected by the candidate fielded by PAS, its strongman from the east coast and party vice-president Datuk Husam Musa.
Political pundits have their own reasons to justify why Husam was fielded there. Some feel PAS has big ambitions in Putrajaya and is going for broke while others feel Husam is being made a sacrificial lamb due to an internal power struggle within the party.
Nevertheless, Husam is obviously exercising caution in taking on Putrajaya and has his own back-up plans. He will be defending his Salor state seat in Kelantan, as well. Salor and Putrajaya are literally worlds apart and in the event Husam wins, it will be interesting to see how he is going to juggle between Salor and Putrajaya.
For GE13, there are 15,798 voters in Putrajaya, many of whom are newcomers to the administrative centre as their respective ministries and departments began shifting here.
Immediately after the nominations, Husam left with a promise to return, three days later, and during the three days, Tengku Adnan carried out non-stop campaigning, with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin lending a helping hand. — Bernama
Husam has promised to stay in touch with those staying in Putrajaya through the social media as 90 per cent of the residents in the administrative centre have access to the new media.
Among the bread and butter issues that Husam has brought to the fore are limited parking space, comfort and accommodation for civil servants and cleanliness of the eateries.
Tengku Adnan, meanwhile, is more confident of his service record and the fact that he knows the hearts of the people here as he too, has been living and working here.
He said, 90 per cent of the dwellers in Putrajaya were civil servants who were really happy with the government’s earnest efforts in taking care of their welfare.
Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil (Cuepacs) president Datuk Omar Osman has declared the union’s full support for BN and its candidate, Tengku Adnan.
Tengku Adnan said on polling day on May 5, it was up to the people of Putrajaya to decide on continuing with what they have been enjoying all this while. — Bernama