Ahmad Shabery, religious figure in the mix for Kemaman

The names of Felda chairperson Ahmad Shabery Cheek and a yet-to-be-named religious figure in Terengganu are among those been tipped as possible BN candidates for the Kemaman by-election.

According to BN sources, former minister Shabery, who served as Kemaman MP from 2004 to 2018, would boost BN's chances of reclaiming the seat.

Despite that, Shabery (above) is said to have refused to be nominated in this by-election.

"So far, Shabery's name is the first choice to be nominated by BN as the Kemaman by-election candidate.

"However, he rejected it. However, I don't know if the leadership still wants him to run as Shabery has a chance to win the seat back. His service record in Kemaman was quite good," he told Malaysiakini.

The source added that Umno and BN also have several other names including young leaders to consider.

On Nov 5, former Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Said announced that he would not contest in the Kemaman by-election this December.

Ahmad, who was the BN candidate for Kemaman last year, said that he had suggested that his name not be included in the list of candidates.

In the last general election (GE15), Ahmad lost to the Perikatan Nasional candidate, Che Alias Hamid who won with a majority of 27,179 votes.

The four-cornered fight at that time saw Che Alias win 65,714 votes defeating Ahmad (38,535 votes), Pakatan Harapan candidate Hasuni Sudin (8,340 votes) and Pejuang candidate Rosli Ab Ghani (506 votes).

The Kemaman by-election was announced after the Terengganu Election Court annulled the victory of Che Alias on Sept 26 after the petitioner, Wan Mohamad Hisham Wan Abdul Jalil (the voter) succeeded in proving that corruption had taken place for the purpose of influencing voters in GE15.

Another potential candidate

Commenting further, sources said another name linked to the candidacy was the head of an Islamic study centre in Terengganu.

"One of the main candidates under consideration is a madrasa student in the state. I cannot reveal his name because negotiations are ongoing and he is an influential person," he said.

Meanwhile, another source said that the leadership of Umno and BN will finalise the name of the candidate to compete in Kemaman on Thursday.

The Election Commission (EC) has set polling day for Dec 2, with nomination day on Nov 18, while early voting is on Nov 28.

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