JOHOR BARU: A meeting to discuss the Barisan Nasional candidate for the upcoming Mahkota by-election has been scheduled for Monday (Aug 26).
A convoy of vehicles, including those carrying Barisan chairman and Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, arrived for the meeting at the Mentri Besar’s official residence in Saujana at 4.25pm.
Several other party supreme council members, such as Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, were also seen entering the official residence.
It was understood that Ahmad Zahid would chair the meeting to finalise the candidate for the Mahkota state seat.
The seat in the Kluang district was left vacant following the passing of its incumbent Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain of Umno on Aug 2.
It was learned that Ahmad Zahid would meet with Pakatan Harapan leaders at 8pm on Monday at the same location.
On Aug 5, Kluang Amanah chief Dr Zuhan Mohd Zain expressed his party’s hopes of contesting in the Mahkota by-election.
This sparked several days of back-and-forth between Pakatan and Barisan over the state seat.
The matter was settled on Aug 13 after Ahmad Zahid said the candidate from the unity government would be from Barisan, as it was customary for the party that holds the state or parliamentary seats to contest again.
On Aug 24, DAP national publicity secretary Teo Nie Ching said her party would support and assist Umno’s candidate in the by-election, which was set on Sept 28 by the Election Commission.
During the Johor state election in 2022, Sharifah Azizah won the Mahkota seat with a 5,166 majority against Amanah’s Muhammad Taqiuddin Chemann, Bersatu’s Mohamad Nor Lingan and Mohamed Noor Suleiman from Parti Warisan.
Nomination Day for the upcoming by-election has been set for Sept 14, and early voting will take place on Sept 24.
