TELUK INTAN What is expected to be a close contest for the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat by-election will kick off today as candidates submit their nomination papers and officialy commence the campaigning period.
The seat fell vacant after former MP Seah Leong Peng (left), from DAP, passed away due to cancer on May 1.
After a lengthy deliberation, DAP, in what has been termed as a bold move, decided to field 27-year-old lawyer and Lim Kit Siang's former political secretary, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud for the by-election.
Although Teluk Intan is a Chinese-majority seat, DAP is riding on Dyana's image as a young, rising Malay star in a party that is often accused of being too Chinese-centric.
If elected, she will become DAP's first Malay female MP, the second youngest DAP MP to be elected (after Fong Po Kuan for Batu Gajah in 1999) and only the third Malay parliamentarian for the party in the current sitting.
But she faces veteran politician Mah Siew Keong, the current Gerakan president, who previously held the seat between 1999 to 2008 and is a local boy who is well known in the constituency.
Mah lost the last two general elections here to DAP's M Manogaran in 2008 and to the late Seah in May last year, the latest by a majority of more than 7,000 votes.
But the 53-year-old will count on his experience and the strength of the BN machinery for the 12-day campaign period before Teluk Intan goes to polls on May 31.
Some independent candidates are also expected to enter the fray, though none have explicitly stated their intent in doing so.
Malaysiakini brings you the live reports of the nomination day as it unfolds.
LIVE REPORT
[More to follow]
The seat fell vacant after former MP Seah Leong Peng (left), from DAP, passed away due to cancer on May 1.After a lengthy deliberation, DAP, in what has been termed as a bold move, decided to field 27-year-old lawyer and Lim Kit Siang's former political secretary, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud for the by-election.
Although Teluk Intan is a Chinese-majority seat, DAP is riding on Dyana's image as a young, rising Malay star in a party that is often accused of being too Chinese-centric.
If elected, she will become DAP's first Malay female MP, the second youngest DAP MP to be elected (after Fong Po Kuan for Batu Gajah in 1999) and only the third Malay parliamentarian for the party in the current sitting.
But she faces veteran politician Mah Siew Keong, the current Gerakan president, who previously held the seat between 1999 to 2008 and is a local boy who is well known in the constituency.
Mah lost the last two general elections here to DAP's M Manogaran in 2008 and to the late Seah in May last year, the latest by a majority of more than 7,000 votes.
But the 53-year-old will count on his experience and the strength of the BN machinery for the 12-day campaign period before Teluk Intan goes to polls on May 31.
Some independent candidates are also expected to enter the fray, though none have explicitly stated their intent in doing so.
Malaysiakini brings you the live reports of the nomination day as it unfolds.
LIVE REPORT
[More to follow]
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