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KLANG – Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said PAS Kelantan’s offer to upgrade the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport (LTSIP) in Pengkalan Chepa to an international airport if Perikatan Nasional (PN) remains in charge of the state after the state election this Saturday is something half-baked.
He said the matter of upgrading an airport to an international airport is under the jurisdiction of the federal government, and not something that can be promised by a party or state government.
“We have to understand that the matter of opening (the airport) – of granting landing rights, of upgrading it to become an international or regional airport – all of that is under the jurisdiction of the federal government,” he said during a Madani Tour ceramah in Sementa, near here last night.
He referred to the statement of a Kelantan government executive councillor who was recently reported to have said that upgrading LTSIP to an international airport will facilitate the people to use direct flights to their destination without having to go to Kuala Lumpur first.
Rafizi said he believed the promise was made to attract support in conjunction with the state election, and in the end would be used as an excuse to blame the federal government if the matter could not be implemented if PAS continued to govern Kelantan in the future.
In the meantime, the PKR deputy president said the latest figures and findings obtained by his ministry showed the shifting support of Malay voters to Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional increasing compared to when the election campaign in the six states began.
“At the beginning of the election campaign, we expected the competition to be much fiercer. But now, we see a big shift in the support of the Malay vote to PH-BN in all states, except for Terengganu which is relatively slow,” he said.
Polling day for the state elections in Selangor, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Negri Sembilan will take place simultaneously on Saturday. – Bernama, August 9, 2023