Three-cornered fights dominate GE14
By Chandravathani Sathasivam and Kamarul Irwan Alias
KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (Bernama) -- The race to win the largest number of seats in the 14th General Election (GE14) sees the dominance of three-cornered fights involving the Barisan Nasional (BN), Pakatan Harapan and PAS, and several other parties in certain constituencies.
The BN candidates will be contesting in all 222 parliamentary seats and 504 state seats nationwide.
The DAP-led Pakatan Harapan, contesting with the PKR logo, will field 191 candidates for parliamentary seats and another 456 for state seats while PAS has nominated 157 candidates for parliamentary seats and 391 state seats in the GE14.
A total of 2,333 candidates representing their respective parties will be contesting in all parliamentary and state seats.
In Sabah, the BN will compete in all 25 parliamentary seats and 60 state seats and it will be challenged by the Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) which nominated 17 candidates for parliamentary seats and another 45 for state seats.
In Sarawak, BN will contest in 31 parliamentary seats via the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak (14 seats); SUPP (seven); Parti Rakyat Sarawak (six); and Progressive Democratic Party (four).
Sabah and Sarawak, which are said to be BN's 'fixed deposit', will see the BN contesting in a total of 56 parliamentary seats.
In the 13th General Election, the BN won 133 parliamentary seats.
As soon as the candidates' nomination process closed at 10 this morning, BN kicked off the general election with the right step when Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was declared unopposed in the Rantau state seat.
His only challenger, S. Streram from PKR failed to submit his nomination form when he, together with his proposer and seconder, did not have the Election Commission (EC) passes, required for them to enter the nomination centre.
The opposition coalition faced another setback when PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang or Tian Chua's nomination to defend the Batu parliamentary seat was rejected by the EC following a court decision.
The nomination of the candidates' process today saw 494 three-cornered fights, 70 straight fights; four-cornered fights (113), five-cornered (37), six-cornered (11) and seven-cornered (one).
BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak faces a four-cornered fight against PKR candidate Mohamad Zahid Mat Arip, PAS representative Kapt (Rtd) Ahiatudin Daud and Independent candidate Datuk Kadir Sainudin while his deputy Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will face a three-cornered fight against Ata Abdul Muneim Hasan Adli (PAS) and Pakhrurrazi Arshad (PKR).
The opposition leader who is also the oldest candidate, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 92, will face the incumbent of the Langkawi parliamentary seat, Datuk Nawawi Ahmad (BN) and Zubir Ahmad (PAS), while law student P. Prabakaran, 22, is the youngest candidate to contest under Independent ticket in the Batu parliamentary seat.
The nomination process today was reported to be smooth and peaceful across the country, and was also highlighted by Independent candidates from various backgrounds including celebrity Mohamed Azwan Ali or better known as Azwan Ali who will face his elder brother, who is also Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin in a five-cornered fight in Bukit Antarabangsa state seat.
Former TV3 Chief News Editor Mohd Khaidir Ahmad will face four other candidates including UMNO Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin in the Temerloh parliament seat.
The speculation of the former Special Affairs Department (Jasa) director-general Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi and former MyPPP president Tan Sri M. Kayveas who were dropped, to contest as Independent candidates did not materialise when both of them were absent from any nomination centre.
In the meantime, the GE14 recorded the largest number of candidates in history with a total of 2,333 nominees compared to 1,891 in the GE13. This was due to the split in the opposition pact and the emergence of new parties such as Amanah, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) and Warisan.
Out of the total, 727 candidates will be contesting under BN tickets.
Yesterday, Najib said that all BN candidates to be fielded for the GE14 have been carefully assessed for the past five years.
He said the combination of candidates, involving new and young faces as well as experienced names, has taken into account their performances, established relationships with the local community as well as the people's support to ensure BN continues as the ruling government.
-- BERNAMA
