Medical doctor Dr Zulkefli Muhammad, who is also Gua Musang PAS division deputy chief, has been named as the PAS candidate for the upcoming Galas by-election.

NONE Zulkefli ( left ) was the PAS candidate who ran and lost against Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for the Gua Musang parliamentary seat in the 2008 general elections.

The 44-year old Dr Zulkefli ia the seventh son of 10 siblings. Graduating from Universiti Malaya (UM) in 1992, he holds a degree in medicine and surgery.

He is said to be well known to locals for his services as a doctor, he is reportedly well regarded in party circles and is currently Gua Musang PAS acting-chief.

pas galas candidate dr zulkefli mohamd PAS spiritual advisor Nik Aziz Nik Mat made the announcement at the Dataran Ilmu at close to midnight during a meet-the-people session held next to the Faiz Mosque in Gua Musang town.

Parliamentary opposition leader and de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim and Nik Aziz spoke to the crowd prior to the announcement.

Although DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang was also supposed to join them, he was taken ill and did not attend. Lim was represented by Perak DAP chief Ngeh Khoo Ham.

BN to announce candidate on Sunday

The state assembly seat fell vacant after PAS state assemblyperson Che Hashim Sulaima, who had been battling colon cancer, passed away late last month after a relapse.

azlan Hashim won the Galas seat with a majority of 646 votes in the last general election, against incumbent Saufi Deraman of BN.

The state constituency has 10,330 voters consisting of 65.4 percent Malays, 22.3 percent Chinese and 1.8 percent Indians. Most of the remaining 10.5 percent are Orang Asli, who number around 2,000 in Galas.

Galas, one of three state seats under the Gua Musang parliamentary constituency - long held by Razaleigh - and is considered a BN stronghold.

It fell to PAS in the 2008 general elections, reportedly due to a swing in non-Malay votes.

Meanwhile, BN will be announcing its candidate for both the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections on Sunday.

Razaleigh has agreed to spearhead the BN campaign in Galas, but has declined to be the candidate.