Nenggiri by-election campaign set to kick off today

GUA MUSANG: The campaign for the Nenggiri state seat by-election is set to kick off today with candidate nominations taking place at Dewan Perdana, Kompleks Perdana, Gua Musang District Council.

Each party or individual intending to contest will be given one hour from 9 am to submit their nomination papers, before their names are verified and announced as candidates by the Returning Officer.

A total of 579 officers and personnel from the Kelantan Police Contingent will be deployed to ensure the smooth running of the nomination process.

According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) website yesterday, the weather is expected to be clear in the morning during the nomination process, although thunderstorms are anticipated in the afternoon.

The Election Commission (EC) has set the polling day for Aug 17, with the campaign period running for 14 days from the conclusion of the nomination process until 11.59 pm on Aug 16.

However, the early voting day originally scheduled for Aug 13 will not be held, after all 14 eligible voters opted for postal voting.

So far, Barisan Nasional (BN) has named Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani, 38, the Youth Chief of UMNO Kelantan, as the candidate representing the Unity Government, while Perikatan Nasional (PN) announced Mohd Rizwadi Ismail, 41, a former Royal Malaysian Navy personnel as their candidate.

The Nenggiri state by-election is being held following the vacancy announcement by Kelantan State Assembly Speaker Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah on June 19, after former assemblyman Mohd Azizi Abu Naim was expelled from Bersatu on June 13.

According to the Election Roll, as of June 18, a total of 20,259 individuals are eligible to vote in the by-election, comprising 20,245 ordinary voters and 14 police officers.

The Nenggiri seat has been contested since 2004, during the 11th General Election, with BN winning four times, and most recently by Mohd Azizi.

In the Kelantan State Election last August, Mohd Azizi defeated BN’s candidate Ab Aziz Yussof with a majority of 810 votes.

This is the ninth by-election following the 15th General Election, with previous ones held for Kuala Terengganu (Parliamentary constituency) in Terengganu; Simpang Jeram (State constituency) and Pulai (Parliament) in Johor; Pelangai (State) in Pahang; Jepak (State) in Sarawak; Kemaman (Parliament) in Terengganu; Kuala Kubu Baharu (State) in Selangor; and Sg Bakap (State) in Penang.