Ramadan, the fasting month, is considered one of the holiest months in the Muslim calendar.

So as campaigning for the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections rumbles along, PAS and Amanah are finding the pace quite slow.

Both parties rely heavily on ceramah sessions for their campaign, but the time for speeches is now occupied by the nightly tarawikh prayers.

"You can only conduct the ceramah after 10.30pm and you have to end it by midnight. You only have one-and-a-half hours.

"Under such circumstances, you cannot hold a few ceramah sessions simultaneously in more than two or three places, because you may not have as many as star speakers to move around," Amanah central committee member Hu Pang Chaw told Malaysiakini.

DAP Sekinchan assemblyperson Ng Suee Lim said the situation was the same in Sungai Besar.

"The voters may be too tired for the night ceramah, frankly speaking.

"I expect Muslims need at least five to seven days to adapt to fasting," Ng said.

Even Selangor BN chief Noh Omar (photo) has said that tarawikh prayers have limited the BN's ability to campaign.

However, PAS election director Idris Ahmad said Umno-BN still has the upper hand.

"BN has the three M – media, money and machinery. The state executive council members (in Perak) will come and the (government) machinery will be mobilised," he said.

However, Idris said, this has not dampened the party's fighting spirit.

Small-scale activities

Both PAS and Amanah have had to change their strategies.

While they still deliver speeches, both parties are now are focusing more on meeting and greeting the voters, including going on house visits after tarawikh prayers.

As for the Umno machinery in Kuala Kangsar, it has organised small-scale activities such as undertaking house repairs.

But even with the change in strategy, campaigning in both Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar is still moving at a snail's pace.

There are hardly any propaganda leaflets, and only some candidates in Kuala Kangsar have come out with their biographies for the voters.

The parties have put up flags all over the places, but other propaganda materials such as banners, buntings and billboards are hardly seen, if compared with previous elections.

Amanah is even losing in the flag war, compared to its rivals, with Hu admitting that the party lacks funding and has a limited number of flags.

Hu, who is stationed in Kuala Kangsar, said the fasting period is also making things a bit difficult as it is taking a toll on Muslim campaign workers.

He said the voters too are less patient when they are tired, making it a challenging task for the parties to convey their messages.

Barely any party campaigners in uniforms spotted working the ground.

Ramadan decorum

However, campaigning in Chinese majority polling districts is not much affected, said Ng and DAP Canning assemblyperson Wong Kah Woh.

"We will still hold ceramah sessions, but not on a daily basis. We go to coffeeshops and speak for 10 minutes,” said Wong, who is helping out in Kuala Kangsar.

Hu also noted that campaigners are also refraining topics like the allegedly lavish lifestyle of the prime minister's family, to observe Ramadan decorum.

"This (speaking of the the lifestyle of Najib may annoy the Muslim voters, particular the conservative Muslim," he said.

He, however, sees this as an advantage because it could also mean PAS will temper their blows against Amanah.

Polling day for Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar is on June 18.

Kuala Kangsar is a four-way tussle between PAS, BN, Amanah and an independent candidate while Sungai Besar is a three-cornered fight between PAS, BN and Amanah.

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