Nomination day in Bagan Pinang (Updated 12.08pm)

Updated 12.08pm, 3 Oct 2009

PORT DICKSON, 3 Oct 2009: The Bagan Pinang state by-election on 11 Oct will see a straight fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS. BN is fielding former Menteri Besar Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad while PAS is represented by Zulkefly Mohamad Omar, the party’s state commissioner.

Returning officer Abdul Wahab Shamsuddin announced the contest at 11.25am after the objection period had ended.

Mohd Isa, 59, was the first to arrive at the nomination centre at Port Dickson Municipal Council hall at 9.05am, naming N Kandiah as the proposer and Kaw Yoh See as the seconder.

About 10 minutes later, Zulkefly filed his nomination papers, with Baharom Bujang as the proposer and Sarif Kasim as the seconder.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin led some 5,000 BN supporters who accompanied Mohd Isa to the centre while PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang led about the same number of PAS supporters who accompanied Zulkefly.

Former Teluk Kemang Parti Keadilan Rakyat committee member, Shahruddin Abdul Hamid, who quit the party yesterday to contest as an independent, was at the nomination centre at 9.20am.

However, he left about five minutes later and had not returned at the close of the nomination period at 10am. Shahruddin told reporters he was looking for a seconder to support his nomination.

The Bagan Pinang state seat fell vacant following the death of the incumbent assemblyperson from the BN, Azman Mohammad Noor, on 4 Sept.

In the 2008 general election, Azman beat the PAS candidate, Ramli Ismail, with a majority of 2,333 votes.

The state constituency has 13,664 registered voters, comprising 9,060 regular voters and 4,604 postal voters.

The Bagan Pinang state constituency has eight voting districts, namely Siliau town, Teluk Kemang, Ladang Atherton, Ladang Bradwall, Kampung Bagan Pinang, Taman Eastern, Sua Betong and SiRusa. — Bernama