THE Kemaman parliamentary by-election will see a straight fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS.
BN has fielded former Chief of Defence Forces Gen (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor as its candidate, while PAS, in defending the parliamentary seat, is represented by Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar.
The candidates were announced by Kemaman by-election returning officer Ahmad Farhan Abdul Wahab after the nomination process at Dewan Berlian Utama, Kemaman Municipal Council in Kemaman, ended at 10am.
Samsuri, who is also PAS’ vice-president, submitted his nomination papers at 9.04am, followed by Affandi four minutes later.
The Election Commission (EC) has set early voting on November 28 and polling day on December 2, after the by-election was called following the decision by the Terengganu elections court on September 26, to nullify PAS candidate Che Alias Hamid’s victory in the 15th general election (GE15).
A total of 141,790 electors, including 387 police personnel, nine armed forces personnel, and their spouses, as well as 12 absentee voters are expected to fulfil their duty in the by-election.
In GE15 held on November 2022, Che Alias won the seat with a majority of 27,179 votes after obtaining 65,714 votes to defeat BN's Datuk Seri Ahmad Said (38,535 votes), Pakatan Harapan's Hasuni Sudin (8,340 votes), and Pejuang's Rosli Ab Ghani (506 votes). – Bernama, November 18, 2023
