Gua Musang Umno secretary may be BN candidate in Galas

GUA MUSANG (Bernama) - Gua Musang Umno secretary Abdul Aziz Yusof, 49, is among the few who were speculated to be fielded as the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Galas state by-election scheduled for Nov 4.

Another name being mentioned is Gua Musang Umno Youth vice-chief Zamzani Harun, 39.

According to an Umno source here today, although Gua Musang Member of Parliament Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was expected to be fielded as the BN candidate, he, as the BN and Umno election director, was believed to be inclined to choose another candidate.

The Galas state seat felt vacant after its incumbent, Chek Hashim Sulaima, 46, from Pas, died of cancer on Sept 27.

Nomination day for the by-election was set on Oct 26, while polling day would be on Oct 4.

Pas, on the other hand, had not speculated much about its candidate, even though Kelantan Pas Deputy Commissioner II Datuk Husam Musa was reported as saying that the party was willing to field a candidate from the Orang Asli community.

From the total of 11,553 registered voters in Galas, 1,889 are Orang Asli.

Political analyst Juhaidi Yean Abdullah said Pas' action in questioning the aptness of BN's plan to field Tengku Razaleigh as its candidate was simply aimed at measuring the people's acceptance towards Tengku Razaleigh, who is also Gua Musang Umno chief.

"They just wanted to see the reaction of the Kelantan people before they field their candidate. They tried to say that Tengku Razaleigh was not qualified to contest for the seat as it was deemed inappropriate in view of his position as the longest serving Member of Parliament and former Finance Minister," he said.

Juhaidi said the truth was that Tengku Razaleigh was indeed an eligible candidate and that scared Pas.

"However, the possibility of Tengku Razaleigh fielding a candidate of his choice is higher than the possibility of him contesting for the seat," he added.

-- BERNAMA