"It never crossed my mind to contest in Sungai Besar by-election" - Jamal Md Yunos

Red Shirt rally leader Datuk Jamal Md Yunos said it had never crossed his mind to contest in the Sungai Besar by-election.

The Sungei Besar UMNO division chief said whoever is picked as the candidate for the seat is a non-issue.

"I had said it earlier, the issue who is the candidate should best be left to party's top leadership. This is a matter of honour for not only party president Datuk Seri Najib Razak but also for UMNO," he told Astro AWANI today.

"To me, the issue of who is the candidate is not relevant at all. Whats more important is to ensure victory," he said.

"My struggles are for the party, not for position," he stressed commenting on talks that he might be fielded for the seat.

The Election Commission (EC) has set June 18 as the election date for the Sungai Besar parliamentary by-election which fell vacant following the death of Noriah Kasnon who died in the helicopter crash on May 5 in Sebuyau, Sarawak.

Early voting will be held on June 14, which falls on a Tuesday, while nomination date is fixed on June 5, 2016.

There are 42,655 registered voters in Sungai Besar with 286 of them are early voters.

In the 13th general election, Noriah defeated PAS's Mohamed Salleh M Husin with a 399 vote majority.