Updated on 6 July at 11.40am
Corrected at 9.15am on 6 July 09
(From left) Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS candidate Mohd Fauzi Abdullah,
BN candidate Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat, and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
KUALA KRAI, 6 July 2009: Nomination day for the Manik Urai by-election began this morning in what is the seventh by-election for Malaysia since the March 2008 general election.
This by-election for a state seat in Kelantan is being held because of the death of the incumbent, PAS’s Ismail Yaacob, who died of a heart attack on 22 May 2009.
The battle for the predominantly Malay Malaysian constituency will for the most part be between PAS and Umno. Manik Urai, which is one of the four state seats in the Kuala Krai parliamentary constituency, is a PAS stronghold.
Manik Urai has 12,293 voters, 99.2% of whom are Malay Malaysians. Other ethnic groups make up the rest.
Nomination began at 9am at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Yahya Petra (1).
11.15am It will be a straight fight between PAS’s Mohd Fauzi Abdullah, a fish wholesaler, and Umno/Barisan Nasional’s Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat for the Manik Urai by-election on 14 July 2009, the Election Commission confirms. Tuan Aziz is the Kuala Krai Umno Youth chief and former Kesedar manager.
By 11.30am, crowds of supporters began marching off from the nomination centre as both candidates leave the premises.
11am Objection period for the nomination period ends.
10.45am Kelantan police chief says there are 2,100 police officers on the ground in Manik Urai for the by-election.
10.20am Friendly handshakes between PAS candidate Mohd Fauzi Abdullah and Umno candidate Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat.
10am Nomination closes. There are no independent candidates. The Manik Urai by-election will be a straight fight between PAS and Umno if the nomination papers are all in order.
Election Commission will make the announcement at 11am.
10am Umno information head Ahmad Maslan says PAS is trying to negate BN’s strength which lies in development. But, he says, development is mandated in Islam.
Women leaders from Umno, DAP and PAS spotted chatting together.
9.50am PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat says to bury the unity government issue, saying it is “no longer an issue”. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is “more united”, he adds. “In PR, we already have Chinese and Indian [Malaysians]. Perpaduan Melayu antara orang Melayu buat apa?”
Adds that his relationship with PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, who mooted and pushed for the unity government talks with Umno, was “good”.
9.45am Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin hopes for a 2005 Pengkalan Pasir by-election result in Manik Urai, when the BN won.
He does not think that constituents in Manik Urai will be “taksub” by following PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat.
Muhyiddin hopes that Umno and other BN component parties will be united and will work hard to wrest the Manik Urai seat from PAS.
9.35am PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who is also Kelantan Menteri Besar, leaves the school compound where the nomination centre is.
9.30am Other Pakatan Rakyat leaders at the nomination centre are Kelantan PAS Deputy Commissioner II Datuk Husam Musa, PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and Tian Chua. PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin and DAP publicity secretary Teresa Kok are also present.
9.20am PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang says the unity government proposal between PAS and Umno is no longer on the table because BN “abused” it. He refused to say why PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa did not show up today at the nomination centre, saying only that Nasharuddin had duties to attend to.
Abdul Hadi says PAS has more experience than Umno. “We have been both government and opposition. We don’t take it very easily here. God willing, we will win.”
To a question about why there weren’t many posters of him in the constituency, compared to those of PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Abdul Hadi said it was because Manik Urai was a state by-election, not a national one.
9.09am BN enters nomination centre to submit papers for its candidate Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat. PAS prays briefly and also enters the nomination centre.
9am Nomination is open for candidates to file their papers.
The nomination centre, SMK Sultan Yahya Petra (1)
8.59am BN leaders arrive at the nomination centre. Among others, Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Wanita chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. MCA Wanita chief Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen is also spotted.
BN crowd at the opposite end of the barricade estimated at 2,000 only. BN supporters sport gendang but do not chant cohesively.
8.52am PAS crowd swells to more than 10,000 by some estimates. The crowd has marched from the mosque in Kuala Krai. They are chanting “Hidup rakyat”, “Hidup Islam” and “Hancur BN”.
8.45am PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and PAS candidate Mohd Fauzi Abdullah enter the school gates where the nomination centre is. They are accompanied by (corrected) PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub, and the DAP’s Dr Tan Seng Giaw. Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Azmin Ali, and PKR’s Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who is Selangor Menteri Besar, are also present.
8.40am PAS supporters marching to cries of “Takbir!” and “God is great!” At the police barricade outside the nomination centre, banners of “Satu undi untuk Islam” and “Jemaah penyokong setia Tok Guru” are visible.
8.30am PAS flag-bearers begin marching towards the police barricade outside the nomination centre. Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters are marching from thier headquarters in Kuala Krai and have yet to reach the nomination centre.
8.20am Hardly any Umno supporters in sight.
8.15am PAS supporters gather to march to the nomination centre. 
To be updated
