KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat Khairy Jamaluddin expressed his full backing for Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to remain as prime minister if the coalition won the 15th general election.

Earlier, incumbent Sungai Buloh MP R. Sivarasa alleged that voting for Khairy would be proxy support for the Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who has been accused of planning to claim the prime ministership for himself.

"A vote for me is a vote for KJ. This (opposition) narrative must be corrected immediately, Barisan Nasional’s prime minister candidate is Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob,” Khairy was quoted as saying by The Vibes news portal today.

"I will support him (Ismail Sabri) as announced by Datuk Seri (Ahmad) Zahid Hamidi. There is no confusion about that.”

After serving three terms in Rembau, Khairy is now contesting in Sungai Buloh where he will face off against six other candidates including PKR’s Datuk R. Ramanan, who is representing Pakatan Harapan (PH).

Other candidates running for the seat are Mohd Akmal Mohd Yusof from Parti Pejuang Tanah Air, Mohd Ghazali Md Hamin from Perikatan Nasional, Ahmad Jufliz Faiza from Parti Rakyat Malaysia, and independent candidates Abdul Razak Syed Long and Nurhaslinda Basri.

After nominations this morning, Khairy said it would be a challenge for him to win Sungai Buloh, but hoped its voters would allow him, the caretaker health minister, to continue serving the country.

"It’s not going to be easy. But I will try my best (to win),” he was quoted as saying.

With a total of 158,090 registered voters, the Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat has become a hot seat for GE15 due to Sivarasa’s unexpected exit and Khairy’s move here after being displaced in Rembau.