Isa faces PAS’ Zulkefly for Bagan Pinang seat

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PORT DICKSON: Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Umno candidate Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad is set to cross swords with Pakatan Rakyat’s PAS candidate Zulkefly Mohamad Omar in the Bagan Pinang by-election on Oct 11.

Isa is a political heavyweight, having served as Negri Sembilan menteri besar for over two decades and helming the Teluk Kemang Umno division, which Bagan Pinang is located in.

Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin made the highly anticipated announcement of Isa’s candidacy at BN’s Aidilfitri open house in Teluk Kemang here yesterday, after weeks of intense speculation on whether the former menteri besar would be fielded.

Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad

Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad

Muhyiddin told a crowd of almost 10,000 at the function that he and Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak had “scrutinised” the candidate and heard feedback from Bagan Pinang voters before making the decision.

“Based on that consideration and because in a by-election, what’s important is ‘people first’, what people want, we give,” the deputy prime minister said, quoting Najib’s “1Malaysia: People first, performance now” slogan.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang named Zulkefly, who is Negri Sembilan PAS commissioner, as PR’s candidate at a ceramah attended by several hundred supporters in Teluk Kemang last night.

Zulkefly is a businessman who holds a Masters degree in Science and has contested in three elections since 1999. In 2008, Zulkefly lost in his bid for the Lenggeng state seat by 1,285 votes.

The Bagan Pinang polls will see eight days of campaigning between nomination day (Oct 3) and polling which is set for Oct 11.

The state seat in the Malay-majority constituency fell vacant following the death of its Umno incumbent Azman Mohammad Noor on Sept 4, paving the way for the ninth by-election since the 12th general election last March.

During the 2008 general election, Azman clinched the seat after defeating PAS’ Ramli Ismail with a majority of 2,333 votes. Bagan Pinang is an Umno stronghold situated within the Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency, which is held by PKR’s Datuk Kamarul Baharin Abbas.

The Bagan Pinang state constituency has 13,664 voters including 4,604 postal voters. Malays form the majority of registered voters at 8,577 voters or 62.77%, 2,834 (20.74%) Indians, 1,498 (10.96%) Chinese and others, 755 (5.54%).

In a statement, Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said fielding Isa as the popular choice of the people of Bagan Pinang could ensure BN’s victory in the coming by-election.

“From my three visits to Bagan Pinang in the past two weeks, feedback from the Indian and Chinese voters there was that they very much prefer Isa, based on his amiable personality and solid service record,” he said.

“Gerakan has set up an operation centre at Sua Betong, headed by the branch chairman R Selvaraj, while the election campaign committee is headed by Telok Kemang division chairman Chai Tek Loong,” said Koh.-TheEdge