The Manek Urai by-election will see Umno's Tuan Aziz Tuan Mat, 39 taking on PAS' Mohad Fauzi Abdullah for the traditional PAS-held state seat.

pas and bn candidate fauzi abdullah tuan aziz manek urai election nomination day 060709 01 Tuan Aziz was the first to file his nomination papers this morning at the SMK Sultan Yahya Petra 1 nomination centre.

The Kuala Krai Umno Youth leader filed his papers just after nominations opened at 9am.

Tuan Aziz is a Universiti Teknologi Malaysia graduate and former Kesedar project monitoring division manager.

He was quickly followed by PAS' Mohd Fauzi (left in photo ), 50, a fish wholesaler and Kuala Krai PAS treasurer.

An hour-long objection period at the end of the nomination period saw one objection but that was rejected by the returning officer.

Both the candidates can now start campaigning for the by-election.

The by-election has been called because of the death of state assemblyperson Ismail Yaakob of PAS on May 22.

Both candidates appear confident

manek urai by-election nomination 060709 nik aziz and mohd fauzi abdullah Mohd Fauzi told reporters that his chances of winning were bright as "we are close to the people here".

"The voters know me well. PAS is close to them and we have been moving on the ground much earlier (than Umno)," he added.

Fauzi has also requested that his name in the ballot paper appears as ‘Abe Uji', which was approved by the returning officer.

‘Abe' means elder brother in the local dialect while ‘Uji' is short for Fauzi, he explained.

BN's Tuan Aziz was also banking on his local roots to get the support of the voters.

He also said that he would be highlighting local issues in his campaigns.

"The people here are mostly involved in farming. We will try to do more to increase their income," he told reporters after filing his nomination papers.

Nik Aziz: Umno is unIslamic

manek urai by election pas banner poster agriculture is prayer Speaking to reporters outside the nomination centre, PAS spiritual adviser and Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said the division between his party and Umno was due to the latter's unIslamic stand.

"If Umno returns to the true teachings of Islam, everything will be fine," he said.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said the issue of unity talks would not dominate the election campaign.

"Only local issues will be important here," he said.

Hadi's recent proposal to hold unity talks with Umno had been shot down by Nik Aziz and Pakatan leaders.

Muhyiddin: Shock win possible

Umno deputy president and deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin hoped that Umno can pull off a shock win on July 14.

manek urai by election nomination day 060709 01 "We don't think all the voters here fully support PAS and Nik Aziz," he told reporters at the end of nomination period.

He also urged all Umno members and members of BN component-parties to stay united and work hard to ensure a victory.

Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein also urged all members to work hard for their candidate.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said they would try to persuade young voters to support the BN candidate.

NOMINATION DAY PHOTO GALLERY

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