REMBAU: The incumbent for the Rantau state seat in Negri Sembilan, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, became the first Barisan Nasional candidate to win unopposed in the 14th General Election.
This was confirmed by Returning Officer for Rembau P131, Amino Agus Suyub, after the nomination process closed today.
His sole challenger, Dr Streram Sinnasamy from PKR, was prevented from entering the Dewan Sri Rembau nomination centre for not having an Election Commission (EC) candidate pass.
State Barisan chief Mohamad has served as Menteri Besar for three terms.
Mohamad later denied claims that BN had any involvement with Dr Streram’s failure to submit his nomination form.
He told reporters that the nomination process was conducted independently by the EC without external interference.
“The EC is not handled by BN. It is not our fault he could not enter the centre. This has nothing to do with external parties.
“From what I have been told, the EC did not allow him to enter the centre because he did not show EC passes,” he said.
Mohamad, who is affectionately known as Mat Hassan, first contested the seat in the 11th General Election in 2004 and defeated PKR’s candidate Badrul Hisham Shaharin, more popularly known as Chegubard, with a majority of 6,199 votes.
Mohammad maintained his outstanding record by beating PKR’s Aishah Lamsah twice in a row during the 12th and 13th General Elections with a majority of 4,613 votes and 3,783 votes respectively.