SHOCK FOR PAKATAN: 4 CANDIDATES DOWN BEFORE THE STARTING GUN – AFTER TIAN CHUA, 2 PKR STATE CANDIDATES FAIL TO CLEAR EC, WHILE BERSATU’S PIZI DISQUALIFIED IN BLOW THAT COULD AFFECT MUHYIDDIN’S PAGOH CHANCES

KUALA LUMPUR— PKR’s Chua Tian Chang has been disqualified from contesting the Batu parliamentary seat, based on the judgment grounds of his RM2,000 fine imposed by the Shah Alam court in March.

“They rejected without elaborating or providing any explanation… this is despite the High Court Judge stating in his verdict that a fine of RM2,000 and below does not disqualify one for contest,” Chua’s lawyer Gurmukh Singh told Malay Mail when contacted.

There are now four other candidates contesting the parliamentary seat: Datuk Dr Dominic Lau from BN-Gerakan, Azhar Yahya, the Batu PAS chief and two other independent candidates, P. Prabakaran and S. Raja Panjamurthy.

Prabakaran is a 22-year-old law student while Panjamurthy was a former MIC member. – MALAY MAIL

EC rejects PKR man’s application to contest in Kuala Balah

JELI: PKR’s hopes of contesting the Kuala Balah state seat were dashed when its candidate Dr Hafidz Rizal Amran’s application was rejected by the Election Commission (EC) today.

This came following the official announcement by Returning Officer Zulkifli Abdul Rahman at 11.20am.

PKR’s Azran Deraman, who is contesting the Jeli parliamentary seat, refused to comment on the matter when met by reporters.

Efforts to contact Dr Hafidz proved futile as he had left the nomination centre at about 10.10am.

Following the rejection of his application, the Kuala Balah seat will now see a straight fight between Pas candidate Mohd Apandi Mohamad and Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Abdul Aziz Derashid. – NST

In Pagoh, PPBM’s Bukit Pasir candidate disqualified

PAGOH— Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (PPBM) candidate for Bukit Pasir state seat here, Pizi Jihat, was disqualified due to a documentation problem at the last minute.

During the grace period before the official candidates were announced, Election Commission officer Zainor Adani was seen deliberating with Pizi and his group for half an hour.

Zainor than announced the official candidates at 11.40am, almost two hours after the official nomination period ended at 10am.

Elsewhere, the stage is set for a three-cornered fight for the Pagoh parliamentary seat with Barisan Nasional (BN) facing PAS and PPBM.

BN Is fielding Umno Pagoh acting division chief Ismail Mohamed, PAS is putting up Ahmad Nawfal Mahfodz and PPBM have chosen its president, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the seat.

PAS Muhammad Nur Iqbal Abd Razak is going up against BN’s Mohd Noor Taib and PPBM Dr Shahrudin Jamal in the Bukit Kepong state seat.

While the Bukit Pasir state seat will see BN’s Datuk Noriah Mahat in a straight fight against retired army captain Najib Lep from PAS. – MALAY MAIL

Mohamad Hasan wins GE14 Rantau state seat uncontested

REMBAU ― The Barisan Nasional got a head start in the general election when Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was returned unopposed to the Rantau state seat today.

The PKR candidate, S. Streram, could not submit his nomination papers at the Dewan Seri Rembau nomination centre because he failed to bring along the candidate pass to enter the centre as required by the Election Commission.

Streram’s proposer and seconder also did not have their EC passes with them.

Returning officer Amino Agos Suyub duly declared Mohamad as the winner of the seat that he has held since 2004.

Mohamad, the Negri Sembilan BN chairman and state Umno liaison committee chairman, retained the seat in the last general election, in 2013, with a majority of 4,613 votes in a straight fight with Aisah Lamsah of PKR.

The situation at the nomination centre became a little tense at one time when Streram and his supporters protested against the police for preventing him and his proposer and seconder from entering the centre after having arrived there at 8am. ― Bernama

MALAY MAIL / BERNAMA