Penang Barisan Nasional will field a candidate from Umno in the upcoming by-election in Permatang Pasir, with the name to be announced by Friday.

permatang pasir by election 110809 penang bc chairman koh tsu koon State BN chief Koh Tsu Koon conceded it will be difficult wrest the state seat that has been held for three terms by PAS, but anticipates a “much stronger performance” compared to the by-election for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat last August.

He said the coalition’s confidence has been boosted by grassroots feedback and opinion polls that indicate the “people have started to return to BN fold”. Penang fell to Pakatan Rakyat in the general election last March.

Koh attributed the favourable response to “positive measures” implemented by new premier Najib Abdul Razak, as well as to introduction of his ‘1Malaysia’ slogan.

He also claimed that BN solidarity and strength is in much better shape now, especially in local politics.

“But we still see it (winning the by-election) as an uphill task. We are the underdogs,” he told journalists after chairing a state BN meeting in Seberang Jaya last night.

azlan The by-election has been called following the death of Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman of PAS on July 31. Nominations will be filed on Aug 17, followed by polling on Aug 25.

Permatang Pasir - one of three state seats in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency - is the sole PAS seat in Penang. Hamdan took it with a majority of 5,433 votes last year, beating Umno’s Ahmad Sahar Shuib.

In the Permatang Pauh by-election, Seberang Jaya assemblyperson Arif Shah Omar Shah of Umno lost to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim by a majority 15,671.

Bukit Mertajam Umno division chief Musa Sheikh Fadzir said Arif Shah had garnered slightly more than 4,000 votes, which was lower than Ahmad Sahar’s tally.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Musa said, in acknowledging that Permatang Pasir is a PAS stronghold.

The constituency has 20,290 voters and one postal vote, with 72.36 percent of the electorate being Malays, 25.85 percent Chinese, 1.63 percent Indians and 0.16 percent others. It has 300 new voters.

New state BN line-up

Koh also announced the state BN new liaison committee line up.

penang land scam issue 290708 hilmi yahya Umno Balik Pulau division chief and Teluk Bahang assemblyperson Dr Hilmi Yahaya (right) is the new secretary, replacing the long-serving Khalid Ahmad.

Khalid has called it a day after serving as secretary for 35 years since BN’s inception in 1974.

MCA state treasurer Loh Nam Hooi is the coalition treasurer.

The state chiefs of four component parties – Liow Tiong Lai (MCA), Dr K Rajapathy (MIC), Dr Teng Hock Nan (Gerakan) and Logabalan Mohan (PPP) - were appointed vice-chairpersons, alongside Umno state deputy chief Zainal Abidin Osman.

The other members comprise two representatives of each component party.