KULIM, Nov 23 — Kedah PKR secretary Mohamad Sofee Razak has been named as the Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) candidate for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat in the 15th general election (GE15).

The announcement was made by Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub. Also present at the announcement were several state-level PH leaders including Kedah PH chairman Datuk Mahfoz Omar.

Mohamad Sofee, 47, a lawyer, is replacing PH’s previous candidate, M. Karupaiya, 69, who died on November 16, believed to be due to a heart attack and health complications.

Mohamad Sofee had previously contested for the Kuala Ketil state seat in GE14.

Meanwhile, Salahuddin, in his speech, said polling for the Padang Serai parliamentary state seat is very important to increase the number of PH Members of Parliament (MPs).

"He (Mohamad Sofee) is a young figure and leader. In terms of qualifications, skills, and experience, Insya-Allah, it cannot be disputed and we believe that he will be able to carry PH’s victory banner in Padang Serai on polling day,” he said.

The Election Commission (EC) previously announced that following Karupaiya’s death, polling for the GE15 for the Padang Serai parliamentary was postponed. The EC then fixed December 7 as polling day while early voting is on December 3.

The nomination process will take place tomorrow with candidates who have been confirmed to contest for the seats during the nationwide nomination day on November 5 need to be present at the centre for the drawing of numbers on the ballot paper between 9am and 10am.

The five confirmed contesting candidates are Hamzah Abd Rahman (Pejuang-Putra), C Sivaraajh (Barisan Nasional-MIC), Bakhri Hashim (Warisan), Azman Nasrudin (Perikatan Nasional-Bersatu) and independent candidate Sreanandha Rao.

In GE14, Karupaiya, representing PH, won the parliamentary seat with a majority of 8,813 votes defeating PAS candidate Muhamad Sobri Osman and BN candidate Datuk Dr Leong Yong Kong.

Polling for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat will be carried out at 46 polling centres, involving 230 channels. For early voting, there will be one polling centre with two channels.

The Electoral Roll to be used for the election contains a total of 133,867 voters consisting of 133,776 ordinary voters, 76 police personnel, and 15 absentee voters overseas. — Bernama