Three-cornered fight in Sg Kandis by-election

SHAH ALAM: The Sungai Kandis state by-election on Aug 4 is witnessing a three-cornered fight between PKR, BN and an Independent candidate.

It involves PKR candidate, headmaster of the Tahfiz Al Fateh Jalan Kebun School Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni; BN candidate, Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam; and Independent candidate, government pensioner K. Murthy.

Sungai Kandis state by-election Returning Officer Datuk Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad made the announcement at 10.25 am at the nomination centre at Dewan Besar Tanjung of the Shah Alam City Council in Section 19 yesterday.

Ahmad Zaharin said the nomination papers were received from the PKR candidate at 9.08 am while from the BN candidate (9.09 am) and Independent candidate (9.35 am).

“After checking the nomination papers, I was satisfied none of the candidates’ nomination papers was rejected. I, hereby, announce that the candidates are eligible to contest in the Sungai Kandis state by-election, namely Datuk Lokman Nor Adam from BN, secondly K. Murthy from Independent and thirdly Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni from PKR,” he said.

The nomination process, which lasted for an hour, was closed at 10 am.

Earlier, party leaders and supporters gathered as early as 7.30 am to support their respective candidates.

Mohd Zawawi, 48, who is also secretary of the PKR Religious and Understanding Bureau (BIPPA), arrived at the nomination centre at 8.45 am accompanied by his supporters.

Among the key Pakatan Harapan leaders present to give support to Mohd Zawawi were PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also Deputy Prime Minister; PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, who is also Economic Affairs Minister; Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari; Parti Amanah Negara deputy president Salahuddin Ayub, who is also Agriculture and Agro-based Minister as well as party grassroots leaders.

Lokman Noor, who arrived at 9.05 am received moral support from top UMNO leaders, among them, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, two vice presidents Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, secretary general Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Women chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad , Youth chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and Puteri chief Datuk Zahida Zarik Khan.

Murthy, 60, arrived at about 9.30 am with his proposer and seconder.

The good weather allowed them to gather and show their support before the respective candidates entered the hall to submit their nomination papers for the byelection, which is the first to be held after the 14th General Election (GE14) on May 9.

There was a slight commotion when a clash took place between the supporters of PKR and BN, but it was put under control by the police personnel who were on duty since early morning.

The incident occurred when BN supporters accompanying the candidate went passed the barricade set up by the authorities about 50 metres from the entrance to the hall.

The situation caused dissatisfaction among the supporters of the PKR candidate gathered behind the barricade placed about 10 metres from the hall’s fence.

Cries of ‘reformasi’ (reformation), ‘jangan lari’ (don’t flee) from PKR supporters were met with response of ‘hidup BN’ (long live BN) by the party supporters, causing a commotion but the police Light Strike Unit (LSF) managed to control the situation and segregate the two groups of supporters.

The by-election has been necessitated by the death of the assemblyman, Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei of PKR, of lymphoma cancer on July 2.

In the GE14, Mat Shuhaimi retained the seat (formerly known as Sri Muda) for the third term by polling 23,998 votes to beat Datuk Kamaruzzaman Johari of BN (11,518 votes), Mohd Yusof Abdullah of PAS (7,573) and Hanafiah Husin of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (76). Mat Shuhaimi secured a majority of 12,480 votes.

The Sungai Kandis constituency has 51,230 registered voters, comprising 51,217 ordinary voters and 13 absentee voters.

There is no early voters in the by-election. - Bernama