PETALING JAYA- It was a star-studded affair at the Seri Setia nomination centre here as PKR, PAS and Umno political leaders accompanied their candidates to the nomination centre, marking the start of the by-election.
Several Umno leaders were spotted alongside the PAS entourage as they marched together from their meeting point at Maybank PJ state to the MBPJ civic centre which was some 300 metres away.
Among those spotted were Selangor Umno chief Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Wanita Umno chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad and Umno information chief Shamsul Anuar Nasarah.
Some 200 PAS and Umno supporters, identifiable through the contrasting colour of their shirts, were also led by PAS leaders, including secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan, vice president Idris Ahmad and deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
They could be heard chanting, “Allahu akbar” as they accompanied their candidate, Dr Halimah Ali, into the nomination centre.
Marching in from the other side of the hall, PKR’s Halimey Abu Bakar was chaperoned by Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shaari, PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin and PKR vice president Chua Tian Chang among others.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is also expected to make an appearance to lend her support.
Election Commission returning officer Datuk Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain earlier announced that the time to submit nomination papers was between 9am to 10am.
The Seri Setia state seat in Selangor fell vacant following the death of its assemblyman Prof Dr Sharuddin Baharuddin from cancer on August 2.
According to the Election Commission, there are 53,492 registered voters in the constituency.
Umno announced that it will be sitting out this by-election to make way for PAS, as a way to reciprocate the Islamist party’s decision to skip the recent Sg Kandis poll. – MALAY MAIL
Seri Setia by-election: Sea of red, blue and green as nominations begin
PETALING JAYA: Nominations for the Seri Setia by-elections began at 9am Saturday (Aug 18) at the Petaling Jaya Civic Hall here, with droves of supporters turning up in their trademark party colours.
Earlier this month, Umno had said it would mobilise its machinery from all its 22 divisions aid PAS’ campaign.
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Umno supporters clad in red and PAS supporters clad in green were seen gathering outside the nomination centre as early as 7.30am.
On the other hand, Pakatan Harapan supporters, clad in blue and armed with vuvuzelas, gathered at the other end of the gate.
Potential candidates have one hour to submit their nomination papers, after which returning officer Datuk Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain will announce the names of the candidates contesting the by-election.
Pakatan Harapan has announced that it will field first-timer Halimey Abu Bakar, a former Petaling Jaya councillor as its candidate to take on the polls.
PAS, on the other hand, had announced Dr Halimah Ali, a former Selangor state executive councillor as its candidate, while Barisan Nasional had said it will abstain from the by-election.
Many have speculated that two independent candidates are likely to join in the race.
Seen here Saturday was PAS vice president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and secretary general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan as well as Selangor Umno chief Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, vice president Tian Chua and Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin were also present.
Dr Halimah narrowly lost the Selat Klang seat by 500 votes to Selangor Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chief Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari in the recent general election.
The Seri Setia state seat fell vacant after incumbent assemblyman and Selangor executive councillor Prof Dr Shaharuddin Badaruddin passed away on Aug 2 after a battle with cancer.
In GE14, Dr Shaharuddin won the seat for Pakatan in a four-cornered fight with a 19,372 majority.
His opponents were Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Yusoff HM Haniff who got 9,878 votes, PAS’ Mohd Ghazali Daud (4,563 votes) and independent candidate Dr S. Vignes (217 votes).
The Seri Setia by-election will run concurrently with the Balakong polls on Sept 8.
The two by-elections will have a campaign period of 21 days.
The Seri Setia constituency (N.32) has 53,492 eligible voters as of Aug 2. From that total, there are 2,770 early voters (army and police personnel) and 30 overseas voters. – THE STAR
MALAY MAIL / THE STAR
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