KOTA BARU: Sarawak-based Parti Sedar Rakyat is expected to make the Nenggiri by-election a three-cornered fight, taking on Perikatan Nasional and Barisan Nasional.

State Election Commission director Fakhrul Razi Ab Wahab said so far, only these three parties have purchased the nomination forms.

"The state EC does not rule out the possibility of a three-cornered contest in the upcoming Nenggiri by-election.

"As of today, we have sold 10 nomination forms - five to BN, four to PN and another one to Sedar," he told the New Straits Times.

Fakhrul said representatives of both BN and PN have paid their deposits for their candidates, namely Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani and Mohd Rizwadi Ismail, respectively.

He said Sedar, however, has yet to make any payment.

Sedar president Othman Abdillah recently said the party's candidate would be announced soon.

He said the party would be fielding a local candidate, adding that Sedar aims to use the Nenggiri by-election as a platform to introduce itself before contesting in the 16th General Election (GE16).

Othman said he was confident Sedar could win the hearts of the locals and stressed the party's goal to serve the people.

"If elected, we will propose policies focused on improving the daily lives of the residents in the area," he added.

Despite being established in Sarawak, Sedar has begun to establish a presence in Peninsular Malaysia with 15,000 members nationwide.

Meanwhile, leaders of both BN and PN said they have no problem having Sedar in the contest.

Kelantan BN chairman Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub, who is also the coalition's operations director for the by-election, said he believed in the country's democratic system.

"Our election machinery is ready for the battle. They will work hard to ensure our candidate will win the state seat.

"They will be assisted by other component parties under the unity government and they will face all opponents," he said.

PN deputy chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said the coalition was confident of the voter's wisdom in selecting the best candidate.

"We have a good calibre candidate and our machinery has already been deployed to Nenggiri.

"I am confident voters in Nenggiri already understand the current political scenario in the country... so, l believe there shouldn't be a problem for PN to face our opponents in the by-election," he added.

The EC has set nomination day for Saturday, with early voting taking place on Aug 13. Polling will be held on Aug 17.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/politics/2024/08/1085013/nenggiri-election-sarawak-based-sedar-make-it-three-way-fight