WITH only nine days to go before the nomination day for state polls in Selangor, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Negri Sembilan, political parties are setting dates to announce contesting candidates.

The country’s two political alliances, Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN), working together for the first time under the unity government to secure people’s mandate in the polls, are ready to announce their candidates, after going through a series of discussions.

BN, which is expected to contest 45% of the 245 state seats in the state polls, will field candidates from Umno, after its component parties, MIC and MCA, decided not to contest.

The coalition of the country’s oldest political parties will announce more than 100 candidates tomorrow evening at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, while PH, especially PKR, is expected to announce its candidates to contest the 59 state seats in a ceremony at the Shah Alam City Council tomorrow.

However, PKR’s ally, DAP, has yet to announce the date to unveil its candidates, even though Penang DAP secretary, Lim Hui Ying, said the party is expected to announce the full list of 19 candidates next week.

It is understood that DAP will field candidates in all 48 state seats won by the party in the 2018 general election, with 19 seats in Penang, Selangor (16), Negri Sembilan (11) and Kedah (2).

Another PH component party, Amanah, will announce its list of candidates of about 34 this Monday, but its president, Mohamad Sabu, has yet to disclose the location and time of the announcement.

Perikatan Nasional (PN), which consists of Bersatu, PAS and Gerakan, has decided to announce their respective candidates to contest in the elections through a PN candidate declaration ceremony.

Selangor PN is expected to announce its candidates on July 25, while other states will make an announcement on July 27.

Meanwhile, the PN candidate declaration ceremony in Kedah, scheduled for tomorrow, has been postponed until next Tuesday, which is understood as a change in Kedah’s PAS strategy to face the state elections.

Muda, which is only contesting 10% of the total seats, is the first party to start announcing its candidates in phases since last Friday, with eight in Selangor and one each in Terengganu and Penang respectively.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia, which is working with Muda in the polls, announced its first candidate on July 14 for the Meru seat. 

At the same time, caretaker Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari; caretaker Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and caretaker Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, will remain state leaders if their respective parties continue to receive the people’s mandate.

The Election Commission has set August 12 for polling in Selangor, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Negri Sembilan to be held simultaneously, with nomination day on July 29 and early voting on August 8. 

The polls cover 36 seats in Kedah, Kelantan (45), Terengganu (32), Penang (40), Selangor (56) and Negri Sembilan (36). – Bernama, July 21, 2023.