THE Semenyih by-election will be a four-cornered contest, with Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan the main contenders.

Election Commission returning officer Mohd Sayuthi Bakar Sayuri announced the four candidates at 10.27am after nomination ended at 10am.

The four are BN’s Zakaria Hanafi, Muhammad Aiman Zanali (PH), Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul (Parti Sosialis Malaysia) and Kuan Chee Heng (independent).

Zakaria, a prominent local Umno leader, is the oldest candidate at 58, while Nik Aziz is the youngest at 25.

Kuan, 56, nicknamed “Uncle Kentang” for calling himself a “humble potato”, is a social activist.

Nik Aziz is a PSM Youth council member and runs a massage therapy business.

Aiman, 30, is a PhD candidate in electrical engineering at Universiti Teknologi Mara in Shah Alam. He is Hulu Langat Bersatu treasurer and the son-in-law of the late assemblyman Bakhtiar Mohd Nor, whose death last month triggered the by-election.

The March 2 by-election will not change the power equation at either the state or federal level. But, it is expected to test the strength of the BN-PAS alliance following the rivals’ cooperation in the recent Cameron Highlands polls, which the former ruling coalition won.

If successful in Semenyih, BN lynchpin Umno and PAS can further justify their pact heading into the 15th general election to wrest Putrajaya from PH.

Outside the nomination centre at Dewan Seri Cempaka at the Kajang Municipal Council this morning, about 500 PAS backers gathered in support of the BN candidate. Among the PAS leaders present were vice-president Idris Ahmad and secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan. – February 16, 2019.