BATTLE FOR SUNGAI BAKAP STATE SEAT BEGINS TOMORROW

NIBONG TEBAL, June  21 (Bernama) -- The battle for the Sungai Bakap state seat begins tomorrow with the nomination of candidates for the by-election at the Jawi Multipurpose Hall, Taman Desa Jawi, here.

Potential candidates are given an hour from 9 to 10 am to submit the nomination form, before the list of eligible candidates is announced by the Returning Officer at the nomination centre.

The submission of nomination paper will be closed an hour after that and candidates will have 14 days to campaign to win votes in the constituency, starting after the declaration of candidates running tomorrow until 11.59 pm, July 5.

Sungai Bakap is one of the three state assembly seats under the Nibong Tebal parliamentary constituency.

So far the former director of the Aminuddin Baki Institute (Northern Branch) Dr Joohari Ariffin, 60, has been named as the candidate of the Unity Government while the former logistics executive who is also Nibong Tebal PAS vice president Abidin Ismail, 56, is representing Perikatan Nasional (PN).

The Sungai Bakap state by-election is expected to witness fierce competition between Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) and PN.

This is because PKR, the party contesting to represent PH-BN, is on a mission to reclaim the seat it won for three terms from 2008 before it was lost to PAS in the State Election last August while PAS representing PN wants to defend the seat.

A total of 39,279 registered voters are eligible to vote in the by-election consisting of 39,222 ordinary voters and 57 police personnel.

The Election Commission has set July 2 as the early voting date, while July 6 is the polling day for the by-election that needs to be held following the death of the incumbent Nor Zamri Latiff, on May 24 due to stomach inflammation.

In the Penang state election last August, the late Nor Zamri who is also Nibong Tebal PAS president defeated PH candidate Nurhidayah Che Rose with a majority of 1,563 votes.

Meanwhile, according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) website, thunderstorms are forecast to occur around Nibong Tebal in the morning and afternoon tomorrow, while the weather is forecast to be good at night.

-- BERNAMA