Sg Bakap by-election: Bersatu pledges support for PAS candidate

NIBONG TEBAL: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) has pledged its support for PAS in the upcoming Sungai Bakap by-election.

Party information chief Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the PAS candidate for the Sungai Bakap by-election would be considered a Perikatan Nasional candidate.

"We will come to Sungai Bakap as the Perikatan coalition.

"We will be here as Perikatan and, god-willing we will win as Perikatan," he said in his speech during the launch of election machinery for the Sungai Bakap by-election.

Azmin said Bersatu's election machinery, which will be deployed to help PAS, will be based in Sungai Bakap.

He said it was important to have strong election machinery to enable the coalition to win.

"We choose the path of democracy because we are well aware that this is the path chosen in the law and the Constitution.

"Our real weapons are facts and knowledge so that the people of Sungai Bakap will continue to rise together with us in this by-election," he said.

The launch of election machinery is among the first big events as Sungai Bakap gears up to face a by-election next month.

The Sungai Bakap state seat fell vacant following the death of Nor Zamri Latiff, 56, a first-term assemblyman, on May 24.

Based on Election Commission records from the last state election, the Sungai Bakap constituency has 38,409 voters, with the majority being Malays (59.36%), followed by Chinese (22.54%), Indians (17.39%) and others (0.71%).

The Election Commission on Thursday (June 6) said that polling has been set for July 6, with Nomination Day on June 22.

On May 27, Penang state Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang submitted notification of the vacant Sungai Bakap state seat to the EC following the death of Nor Zamri.

The notice was submitted to Penang EC director Dr Siti Nazariah Abdul Zalim on the state assembly grounds.

Nor Zamri died at 1.38pm on May 24 while receiving treatment at the intensive care unit of Hospital Seberang Jaya due to inflammation in the stomach.

The Nibong Tebal PAS chief secured 15,433 votes in the August 2023 state election, defeating Pakatan Harapan's Nurhidayah Che Rose.