GE14 | Kedah BN has announced that its incumbent Langkawi MP Nawawi Ahmad will defend his seat in the coming general election.

When he entered the world of politics, the 57-year-old engineer could not have imagined that Dr Mahathir Mohamad would one day be his opponent.

Mahathir, who would turn 93 in July, had picked the island as his launchpad to return to Parliament and as prime minister, if the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan wins federal power.

In the 2013 general election, Nawawi had won the Langkawi seat with a whopping 11,861 majority or 67 percent of the votes.

Caretaker Kedah menteri besar Ahmad Bashah, who announced the candidates at his official residence today, revealed that he would contest in the Suka Menanti state seat, formerly known as Bakar Bata, for the sixth time.

Political observers have not ruled out the possibility of Kedah, which is the home state of Mahathir, falling to Harapan.

Ahmad Bashah (photo above) also announced that caretaker ministers Mahdzir Khalid, Johari Baharum and Jamil Khir Baharom would defend their respective seats of Padang Terap, Kubang Pasu and Jerai.

Incumbent Jerlun parliamentarian Othman Aziz and Jitra state assemblyperson Aminuddin Omar would be defending their seats against Mahathir's son Mukhriz, who was the former Kedah menteri besar.

Based on the list, two state assembly candidates and one parliamentary candidate who contested in the 2013 general election have been dropped. They are Dr Ismail Daut (Merbok), Ahmad Lebai Sudin (Bukit Lada) and Azmi Che Hussain (Bayu).

'Cross swords'

When contacted, Othman said he believes BN will be able to defend Jerlun based on its track record and the preparedness of the election machinery.

“In politics, we don’t support the individual, we support the party. When he was with us, he was my leader and I’d have to follow his instructions but today I no longer support him because he decided to go with the opposition.

“In our struggle, we need a party that supports our efforts to deliver the best service to the people.

“But unfortunately although I don’t have personal issues with him, we’d have to cross swords because he is with the opposition,” he added when asked about the prospect of facing his former division chief.

Based on the list, six out of 15 candidates who contested for Parliament seats in 2013 have been dropped.

In the 2013 general election, BN won 10 out of 15 parliamentary seats and 21 out of 36 state seats in Kedah.

The full Kedah BN candidate list is as follows:

P004 LANGKAWI - Nawawi Ahmad (incumbent)

N01 AYER HANGAT - Mohd Rawi Abdul Hamid (incumbent)

N02 KUAH - Nor Saidi Nanyan (incumbent)

P005 JERLUN - Othman Aziz (incumbent)

N03 KOTA SIPUTEH - Ahmad Azhar Abdullah (new candidate)

N04 AYER HITAM - Abu Hasan Sarif (Kota Siputeh incumbent)

P006 KUBANG PASU - Mohd Johari Baharum (incumbent)

N5 BUKIT KAYU HITAM - Ahmad Zaini Japar (incumbent)

N6 JITRA - Datuk Aminuddin Omar (incumbent)

P007 PADANG TERAP - Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid (incumbent)

N07 KUALA NERANG - Datuk Badrol Hisham Hashim (incumbent)

N08 PEDU - Kama Noriah Ibrahim (incumbent)

P008 POKOK SENA – Said Ali Said Rastan (new candidate)

N09 BUKIT LADA - Ariffin Man (2008 Bukit Lada candidate)

N10 BUKIT PINANG - Mohammad Nawar Ariffin (new candidate)

N11 DERGA – Cheah Soon Hai (2013 Derga candidate)

P009 ALOR SETAR - Yoo Wei How (new candidate)

N12 SUKA MENANTI - Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (incumbent)

N13 KOTA DARULAMAN - Tan Eng Hwa (new candidate)

N14 ALOR MENGKUDU - Abdul Malik Saad (new candidate)

P010 KUALA KEDAH - Abdullah Hasnan Kamaruddin (1999 Anak Bukit candidate)

N15 ANAK BUKIT - Johari Aziz (new candidate)

N16 KUBANG ROTAN - Abdul Muthalib Harun (2004 Anak Bukit candidate)

N17 PENGKALAN KUNDOR - Abdul Halim Said (new candidate)

P011 PENDANG - Othman Abdul (incumbent)

N18 TOKAI - Ahmad Fatahi Omar (new candidate)

N19 SUNGAI TIANG - Suraya Yaacob (incumbent)

P012 JERAI - Jamil Khir Baharom (incumbent)

N20 SUNGAI LIMAU - Norma Awang (new candidate)

N21 GUAR CHEMPEDAK - Ku Abdul Rahman Ismail (incumbent)

N22 GURUN - Boey Chin Gan (2008 Padang Serai candidate)

P013 SIK - Mansor Abdul Rahman (incumbent)

N23 BELANTEK - Mohd Tajudin Abdullah (incumbent)

N24 JENERI - Mahadzir Abdul Hamid (incumbent)

P014 MERBOK - Tajul Urus Mat Zin (Tanjong Dawai incumbent)

N25 BUKIT SELAMBAU - Jaspal Singh Gurbakhes Singh (new candidate)

N26 TANJONG DAWAI - Annuar Ahmad (new candidate)

P015 SUNGAI PETANI - Shahanim Mohamad Yusoff (new candidate)

N27 PANTAI MERDEKA - Ali Yahaya (incumbent)

N28 BAKAR ARANG - Ko Hung Weng (new candidate)

N29 SIDAM - Tan Kok Seong (new candidate)

P016 BALING - Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (incumbent)

N30 BAYU - Mohamed Noor Mohamed Amin (new candidate)

N31 KUPANG - Harun Abdul Aziz (incumbent)

N32 KUALA KETIL - Mohd Khairul Azhar Abdullah (2013 Kuala Ketil candidate)

P017 PADANG SERAI - Leong Yong Kong (Gurun incumbent)

N33 MERBAU PULAS - Asmadi Abu Talib (new candidate)

N34 LUNAS - Thuraisingam A/L KS Muthu (new candidate)

P018 KULIM/BANDAR BAHARU - Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir (incumbent)

N35 KULIM - Chua Thiong Gee (incumbent)

N36 BANDAR BAHARU - Norsabrina Mohd Noor (incumbent)