Nomination opens at 9am for Sungai Besar by-election

Nomination opened at 9am today for the Sungai Besar parliamentary by-election at Dewan Seri Bernam here.

One hour has been set aside by returning officer Mohd Khairuddin Md Som for the nomination, after which he will announce the names of the contesting candidates.

The Barisan Nasional had named Sungai Panjang state assemblyman Budiman Mohd Zohdi as its candidate.

PAS had named Meru state assemblyman Dr Abdul Rani Osman as its candidate while Parti Amanah Negara chairman for Sungai Besar Azhar Abdul Shukur had been selected as the candidate for the Pakatan Harapan pact.

The by-election is being held following the death of the MP, Tan Sri Noriah Kasnon, in a helicopter crash in Sarawak on May 5.

In the 13th general election, in 2013, Noriah defeated the PAS candidate, Mohamed Salleh M. Hussin, with a majority of 399 votes.

Sungai Besar has 42,655 registered voters, comprising 42,365 ordinary voters, 286 early voters and four absentee voters who are abroad.

The Election Commission has fixed June 18 as the polling day for the by-election.