The decision to field Mohd Nizar Najib in the Pekan parliamentary seat will ensure the seat is safe to be returned to be contested by his father Najib Abdul Razak when the latter is released from prison later.
According to Mazlan Ali, senior lecturer with the Perdana Centre, Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, the eldest son of the former premier is seen as a "stand-in" for the latter, in the parliamentary seat.
"Najib will one day return to his place (Pekan). Nizar is seen as representing his father.
"Others will not dare to jostle for the seat. Pekan is Najib's legacy seat, and people respect that," Mazlan told Malaysiakini.
In addition, choosing Nizar to contest in Pekan would also evoke the voters' sentiment and hand a victory to BN, he added.
This is because the voters in Pekan will not easily forget the service provided by Najib's family, since his father Abdul Razak Hussein's time, Mazlan noted.
These include constructing an army camp in the constituency and building various other infrastructures for the locals.
Age is no deterrence
Meanwhile, Universiti Malaya political analyst Awang Azman Pawi said BN and Umno want to take advantage of the sympathy and sentiment factor of the imprisoned Najib, to win the Pekan voters' hearts.
He also said that Nizar's young age (44) is no deterrence to being elected a parliamentarian. This is because Najib himself was elected Pekan MP (when he was 23) before his political career rapidly shot up, the analyst noted.
"If Najib's son is chosen, this would prevent other candidates from jostling for the seat," he told Malaysiakini.
According to Azman, once Najib is freed from prison, he can not only contest for the Pekan parliamentary seat but gun for any other seat that he chooses.
"But the Pekan seat will give him an added advantage, campaigning-wise, as he does not need to work extra hard to woo the voters' hearts."
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) political analyst Jamaie Hamil concurred, saying fielding Nizar in Pekan will give BN an "easy victory".
He likened it to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim choosing his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to fill in his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat when he was in prison, he said.
"So fielding Najib's son (in Pekan) is an expected move, not something out of the ordinary," he said.
It was recently reported that it looks "almost certain" that Nizar will be fielded as BN's candidate in Pekan, as his father's presence there remained strong even from behind bars.
For the record, Pekan is a BN fortress, which was held by the second prime minister Razak from 1959 and 1979. Najib then took over the seat from his father in 1976 and has held it until his current incumbency.
In addition, Najib also served as the Pahang menteri besar from 1982 to 1986.
He is currently serving a 12-year imprisonment after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for corruption in the RM42 million SRC International case. - Mkini
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