As anticipated, the by-election for the Kuala Berang state seat in Terengganu will see a straight fight between Barisan Nasional and PAS.

BN's Mohd Zawawi Ismail ( left ), 45, will be challenged by PAS' Muhyiddin Abdul Rashid ( right ), 43, when polling takes place on Aug 28.

Returning Officer Idris Che Mat announced the candidates this morning, at the end of the objection period at about 11am. He said only two candidates had submitted papers when nominations closed.

The by-election, the first since the March 21 general election, follows the death of state assemblyperson Komaruddin Abdul Rahman on July 30. The state Umno leader died of a heart attack.

In the general election, Komaruddin defeated PAS' Dr Mamad Puteh by a majority of 1,695 votes.

Comeback for PAS?

Mohd Zawawi is Komaruddin's former assistant in the Kuala Berang state constituency. He has also served as Hulu Terengganu assistant district officer.

Muhyiddin is the Hulu Terengganu PAS Secretary and was previously Terengganu PAS Youth chief.

He is an experienced politician who won the Hulu Terengganu parliamentary seat in 1999 but failed to retain it in March, when he lost to BN's Tengku Putera Tengku Awang.

The outcome of this by-election will not have any effect on BN's control of the state legislature. The ruling coalition wrested back power from PAS when it won 28 out of the 32 state seats.

For PAS, a victory would be deemed the start of a comeback for a party that was routed in the general elections.

There are 11,454 voters in Kuala Berang, of whom 98.4 percent are Malaysian Malays.