IPOH: Popular Islamic preacher and ustaz Datuk Mohd Kazim Elias has pulled out from contesting the Larut parliamentary seat.
Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said his replacement would be Larut Umno Youth information chief Mohd Shafiq Fhadly Mahmud.
"The name is different from what was announced last night because Kazim has pulled out," he said during the announcement of the 15th General Election (GE15), candidates for Perak at Casuarina@Meru Hotel here on Wednesday (Nov 2).
No reason was given.
Four state seats were not announced - Buntong, Aulong, Sungkai and Jelapang.
All the four seats during GE14 were won by DAP.
Previously, MIC contested in Jelapang, Buntong and Sungkai while Gerakan contested in Aulong.
None of the candidates from MIC were present during the announcement.
Among the notable changes in candidates that contested in the 14th General Election but not in GE15 included Pangkor, whereby Datuk Norzaman Man was named, Ayer Kuning (Ishsam Shahruddin), and Pengkalan Baharu (Azman Noh).
The incumbents for Pangkor, Ayer Kuning and Pengkalan Baharu were Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, Datuk Samsudin Abu Hassan and Datuk Abdul Manaf Hashim respectively.
