It’s BN v PN for Kemaman by-election

KEMAMAN BY-ELECTION | It’s going to be a straight fight between BN and Perikatan Nasional in the Kemaman by-election, returning officer Ahmad Farhan Abdul Wahab confirmed.

Only two candidates filed their nominations after the process concluded at the Kemaman Municipal Council at 10am today, he said.

BN is fielding former chief of defence forces Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor, 66, as its candidate, while PAS is fielding Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar to defend the seat.

Samsuri was accompanied by senior PN leaders and supporters when he came to file his nomination at about 8.45am.

Among those were PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, his deputy Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, PN secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin, and Gerakan president Dominic Lau.

The BN candidate, meanwhile, was accompanied by Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, as well as the party vice-presidents Johari Abdul Ghani, Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, Kemaman election director Ahmad Said, and Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

Smooth process

The nomination process went on smoothly, with the authorities, including the police, keeping a close watch on the situation outside the nomination venue.

In fact, Mohamad was seen chatting with Hadi and Tuan Ibrahim at one juncture.

The Election Commission has fixed early voting on Nov 28 and polling day on Dec 2.

A total of 141,790 voters are expected to cast their ballots, including 387 police personnel, nine military personnel, and 12 absent voters.

The by-election is being called after the Terengganu Election Court nullified the victory of Che Alias Hamid of PAS, who was declared the winner of the Kemaman parliamentary seat in the 15th general election last year.

Che Alias won 65,714 votes in the four-cornered battle, defeating Ahmad Said of BN (38,535), Hasuni Sudin of Pakatan Harapan (8,340) and Rosli Ab Ghani of Pejuang (506).

The Kemaman parliamentary seat has four state seats, namely Kemasik, Kijal, Chukai, and Air Putih.

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