TANJUNG MALIM: It will be a three-cornered fight in Slim as Barisan Nasional (BN) is set to face two independent candidates in the Aug 29 by-election.
The candidates are acting Tanjung Malim Umno chief Mohd Zaidi Aziz, 43, for BN; and independent candidates S. Santharasekaran, 45, and lawyer Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi, 38, who is representing the yet to be registered Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang).
Election Commission (EC) returning officer Shamsul Ridzuan Idris made the announcement at 10.35am today after the nomination process at Dewan Sri Tanjong, Tanjung Malim District Council, closed at 10am.
The completion of the nomination process led to the start of the 15-day campaign that will culminate with the polls.
This by-election is the second held during the implementation of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) after the Chini by-election on July 4. It is also the 12th by-election held after the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018.
When met after the announcement of the nomination, Zaidi said he would continue to strive for development, education and the welfare of constituents including the Felda settlers and villagers in Slim.
"Praise to Allah, at the BN-level, we are receiving cooperation from component parties as well as from Pas Even Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) is with us.
"I have also met with Perak Menteri Besar (Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu), the Tanjung Malim Bersatu division chief and other leaders here. They are willing to help in terms of machinery and they will help us to attract more voters," said Zaidi.
Meanwhile, Amir Khusairi said he would be contesting under the 'tree' symbol.
"I decided to go with a 'tree' symbol as it represents the people of Slim here, with its roots deep in the ground. That represents my strong stand, while the leaves protect and help the Slim voters.
"I believe it is high time for a change to the political landscape and this by-election is the starting point to fix what we feel is not right. I want to reject any form of corruption because such culture could paralyse our democratic system," he added.
Meanwhile, the second independent candidate, Santharasekaran, who is a former teacher, said his focus was to strive for better education and to highlight environmental issues.
"The environment is important and as a former teacher, I need to educate people on how to take care of our environment," said the 45-year-old of Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Bandar Behrang 2020.
Slim has 23,094 registered voters comprising 22,815 normal voters, 277 early voters comprising police personnel and two absentee voters overseas.
The seat was left vacant following the death of BN's incumbent assemblyman Datuk Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib on July 15.
In GE14, Khusairi of BN defended the Slim state seat for the fourth term with a majority of 2,183 votes after he defeated the Bersatu candidate, Mohd Amran Ibrahim and Pas candidate Muhammad Zulfadli Zainal.
Perak has 59 state seats and out of the total, the Perikatan Nasional pact has 33 seats which consist of BN (25), Bersatu (5), and Pas (3). Pakatan Harapan has 24 seats comprising DAP (16), Parti Amanah Negara (5) and PKR (3); while the remaining seats in the state assembly belong to an independent (1) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia or Gerakan (1).