A local medical doctor will most likely be the PAS candidate for the Pendang parliamentary seat by-election on July 18.

A source told malaysiakini the possible candidate is Dr Muhammad Hayati, well-known to the locals and favoured by state leaders and the grassroots as the right person for the job.

Besides Muhammad, who is a PAS Pendang division committee member, two other names tipped for the constituency are Dr Hatta Ramli, political secretary to the late PAS president Fadzil Noor; and information chief and Sala state assembly representative Azizan Abdul Razak.

The source said although the PAS central committee suggested Azizan as a candidate, he was reluctant to take up the offer due to work commitments.

On the other hand, Hatta is not a local person and prefers to concentrate on Gombak, Selangor, where he contested in the last general election and lost by a narrow margin to the Barisan Nasional candidate, the source said.

The recent death of Fadzil, who was the Pendang member of parliament and Anak Bukit state assembly representative, left the two seats vacant.

The Election Commission has fixed July 10 for nominations and eight days for campaigning.

The by-elections are vital for the ruling Barisan Nasional which saw its dominance in Kedah, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's home state, threatened by PAS in the 1999 general election.

Acid test for Umno

It is a challenge for BN to win back the Anak Bukit state seat in order to regain two-third majority in the Kedah state assembly which the ruling party lost when Keadilan's deputy youth chief Saifuddin Nasution Ismail took over Lunas in 2000.

Citing sources, malaysiakini reported last Wednesday that Umno's candidate for Anak Bukit is likely to be former parliamentarian for Kuala Kedah, Zakaria Said.

As for the Pendang seat, the party is likely to field the former parliamentarian for the constituency, Othman Abdul, who lost to Fadzil in the 1999 general election.

The by-elections will also be seen as an acid test for Umno and BN as it will be an indication of how far the political rehabilitation or recovery of support for Umno has become a reality.

PAS too, has much to prove with the recent hoo-ha its state government of Terengganu created over the tabling of the Syariah Criminal Laws Enactment.

In the last general election, PAS won eight parliamentary seats and 12 state seats. According to the updated election roll, Pendang has 53,128 voters, including 170 postal voters. The Anak Bukit seat has 19,399 voters, including 20 postal voters.

Meanwhile, engineer Amiruddin Ahmad will most likely be the PAS candidate in Anak Bukit.

Not much is known about Amiruddin but another source said he is very much preferred by the ulama (religious scholars) in PAS.

Announcement tomorrow

When contacted PAS secretary-general Nasharudin Mat Isa declined to comment beyond saying that the names of the candidate will be announced in the two districts tomorrow at 9pm, as stated last week.

Nasharuddin said the party's spiritual advisor Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat will announce the candidate for Pendang at the party's Gajah Mati headquarters.

Acting PAS president Abdul Hadi Awant will announce the candidate for Anak Bukit at Pos Pemuda Sungai Baru.

Nik Aziz, who is also Kelantan menteri besar, will lead the party's Pendang candidate to file his nomination papers at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pendang.

Abdul Hadi, who is Terengganu menteri besar, will lead the Anak Bukit candidate to Auditorium Bernas, the nomination centre for Anak Bukit.

Nasharuddin said PAS is well prepared for the by-elections as the party has laid down its machineries for the coming general election scheduled for 2004 or earlier.