After 63 years, no Najib family member for Pekan

KUALA LUMPUR: After several decades of being a legacy seat for the family of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Pekan will see an outsider for the first time after GE15.

Datuk Seri Sheikh Mohamed Puzi Sheikh Ali will be fielded for the seat that was last held by the jailed former premier.

Sheikh Mohamed Puzi Sheikh Ali is the incumbent Peramu Jaya assemblyman.

Pekan had been in the Najib family since 1959 when it was first won by his father and former prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.

Earlier, speculation had been rife that Najib’s eldest son, Datuk Mohd Nizar Najib, would be the likely candidate to succeed his father by being fielded in Pekan.

Except for a gap from 1982 to 1986, Najib had held the Pekan parliamentary seat since 1976 after the passing of his father.

In 1982, Najib did not defend the seat but instead contested and won the Bandar Pekan state seat, allowing him to be appointed as the Pahang mentri besar at the age of 29.

In GE14, he retained Pekan but fell short of achieving his target of a 40,000-vote majority.

He won with a majority of 24,859 votes, defeating PAS’ Ahiatudin Daud, Bersatu’s Muhammad Zahid Md Arip and Independent candidate Abd Kadir Sainudin.