Slim polls: Mahathir names syarie lawyer as candidate

SLIM POLLS | Syarie lawyer Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi has been named by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the candidate who will take on Umno's acting Tanjung Malim division chief Mohd Zaidi Aziz in the upcoming Slim by-election.

Former Bersatu Youth leader Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was also present, having earlier announced that he would be there to support his allies.

Syed Saddiq has been the subject of speculation that he will not be joining Mahathir and the others expelled from Bersatu in Pejuang but will focus instead on a youth movement.

He was notably absent from Mahathir's press conference on Friday where it was announced that the new party would uphold Bersatu's original anti-corruption struggle.

Among Perak Pakatan Harapan allies present at the naming of the candidate were Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, Perak opposition leader Abdul Aziz Bari, Tanjung Malim MP Chang Lih Kang and DAP Youth chief Howard Lee.

The by-election was called following the demise of incumbent Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib on July 15, from a cardiac arrest.

It will be held on Aug 29, with nominations on Aug 15.

During the 14th general election in 2018, Mohd Khusairi won the seat by defeating Bersatu's Mohd Amran Ibrahim and PAS' Muhammad Zulfadli Zainal by a majority of 2,183 votes.

Slim has 23,094 registered voters, comprising mostly Malays by 75 percent, followed by Indians (13 percent), Chinese (10 percent), and others (two percent).

Many are predicting an easy win for Umno due to the seat being a party stronghold that was won four times consecutively by Mohd Khusairi.

Slim falls under the Tanjung Malim parliamentary seat. Since its creation in 1959, Tanjung Malim was held by MCA until Chang wrested the seat away two years ago for Harapan in GE14.

However, of the three state seats within Tanjung Malim, Sungkai and Behrang supported Harapan, while Slim stayed loyal to Khusairi and Umno.

Perak opposition leader Aziz Bari had also stressed that the opposition would face an uphill battle on their hands.

"The locals, especially the Malays, only see and understand local issues.

"They may well have no idea of other standards or level of development and do not realise how Umno has failed to achieve much despite being in power for over 60 years," Abdul Aziz told Malaysiakini.

Earlier today, Umno state liaison chairperson Saarani Mohamad announced Mohd Zaidi's candidacy in a media conference in Trolak.

Hailing from Slim River, the father of four has a bachelor's degree in Islamic Studies from International Islamic University of Malaysia.

He is also the deputy president of the Youth Workers National Federation and the secretary-general of the Asean youth cooperation committee.

The Slim by-election is the second after Chini to take place under the recovery movement control order, as well as since Perikatan Nasional came to power in February.

It's also the 12th by-election since the 2018 general election.

 - Mkini