State polls: Mostly straight fights in Kelantan

KOTA BARU: The Kelantan state election will largely consist of straight fights between PAS and other parties as well as independent candidates.

Based on the announcement of candidates made by the Election Commission on Saturday morning (July 29), 40 state seats will see straight fights, four seats will see three-cornered fights and only one four-cornered fight.

Four candidates for the Kota Lama seat will be battling to be the next state assemblyman. They are Hafidzah Mustakim (Pakatan Harapan - Amanah), Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary (Independent), Tan Book Kian (Parti Rakyat Malaysia) and Zamri Ismail (Perikatan Nasional - PAS).

Seats that will see three-cornered fights are Chempaka, Tendong, Jelawat and Temangan which largely consist of fights between PN, BN and independent candidates.

This time around, there are a total of 96 candidates who will be fighting for seats at all 45 state constituencies in Kelantan.

The fight in Kelantan will see more men competing for the seats. In total, there are 88 men contesting and only eight women.

According to the data by the EC, it appears there will be more senior citizens contesting in the polls. 60 of the 96 candidates are those over the age of 50.

The youngest candidate here is a 26-year-old Barisan Nasional candidate Muhammad Fakhran Che Jusoh who will be competing in the Pulai Chondong constituency against PAS candidate Azhar Salleh.

Pakatan Harapan is fielding 14 candidates in total for the Kelantan state election while Barisan Nasional (31), Perikatan Nasional (45), one candidate from Parti Rakyat Malaysia and five independent candidates.