malaysiang
GEORGE TOWN, With two weeks left before nomination day of the Sungai Bakap state seat by-election, the political temperature in Penang, especially in the Nibong Tebal parliamentary constituency, has started to heat up.
Political parties have started strategising by holding discussions on candidates within their parties and with coalition partners before finalising the candidates to be fielded to win the hearts of voters.
The political show on the Sungai Bakap by-election stage was started by the country’s giant political coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) under the ‘Unity Government’ banner when they unanimously agreed at the Penang level last Monday that PKR should field a candidate in the spirit of the party that contested before be given priority to try their luck again.
In the opposition bloc, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) has given way to PAS to field a candidate representing Perikatan Nasional (PN) thus almost confirming that the Sungai Bakap by-election will once a
gain witness a clash between PKR and PAS to win the same seat after almost 10 months following the Penang State Election (PRN) last August.
The Unity Government candidate is expected to be announced next week, according to PH chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, while for PAS it is still shrouded in mystery and has not made a decision on the date of the candidate announcement.
The Election Commission (EC) has set July 6 as the polling day for the Sungai Bakap by-election and June 22 as the nomination day, while early voting will be on July 2.
The Sungai Bakap seat fell vacant following the death of its incumbent Nor Zamri Latiff of PAS on May 24 due to stomach inflammation.
Although they have not yet announced their candidates, the PH-BN and PN coalitions are each ready to launch their machinery for the by-election, with the PN machinery launch scheduled for tonight and the Unity Government machinery launch scheduled for tomorrow.
The by-election is seen as an opportunity for PKR to recl
aim the Sungai Bakap seat, which was a stronghold of the party for 10 years from 2008 to 2018 before falling into the hands of PAS in the 2023 PRN, while PAS is determined to defend the seat it holds by launching the hashtag #SgBakapKitaKekal early.
There has been much speculation about the criteria for the candidates who will represent the two oldest political parties in the country, including recycled candidates, locals, family members of the deceased, young women and former educators.
Penang PKR State Leadership Council Chairman Nurul Izzah Anwar confirmed that there are five candidates, including men and women, who have been nominated for the final decision at the party leadership level.
“The important thing is that we take into account not only the names that are very influential among the people but also those who have contributed not only today but also before. We want the candidate who is fielded to be a winnable candidate,” said the PKR Vice President.
Meanwhile, Penang PAS Commissioner Muhammad
Fauzi Yusoff said the party has also submitted a shortlist of candidate names to the PAS central leadership for selection and when asked whether the list of candidates submitted included family members of Nor Zamri, he did not deny it, but asked to wait until the candidate’s decision is announced.
“After the state level, it (the candidate’s name) will be scrutinised by the Majlis Syura Ulama and then the PAS leadership, the one to be selected must be a qualified candidate and so far all the names we have sent are PAS members (state). The number of (candidates) is more than one and less than 10 that we have sent,” he said.
However, the focus is more on the PH-BN and PN coalitions, while other parties such as Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), Parti Ikatan Demokratik Malaysia (MUDA), Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) are seen not giving any hint of entering the eighth by-election after the 15th General Election (GE15) in 2022.
In the Penang PRN last August, Nor Zamri, who was the
Nibong Tebal PAS chairman, defeated PH candidate Nurhidayah Che Rose by a majority of 1,563 votes.
The Sungai Bakap constituency now has 39,279 voters comprising 39,222 ordinary voters and 57 police personnel and spouses
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
