KEMAMAN, Nov 17 — Barisan Nasional (BN) is confident of its candidate’s credibility and is not threatened by PAS’ decision to field Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar as its candidate for the Kemaman parliamentary by-election on December 2.

Umno information chief, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, said that BN candidate, former Chief of Defence Forces Gen (Rtd) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor, is the best because he is from Kemaman.

"I am confident that with his (Raja Mohamed Affandi) experiences and career, we at BN, offer someone who will serve BN and the voters in Kemaman.

"For me, when choosing a Member of Parliament (MP), the priority for a candidate is someone who can provide service, and I am confident that the candidate we offer will focus on Kemaman voters as his main agenda,” she said to reporters after attending a meeting with the Terengganu Umno information machinery, here today.

In the meantime, Azalina, who is also the Pengerang MP, challenged Ahmad Samsuri to resign as menteri besar if he truly wanted to represent and serve the people of Kemaman as their MP.

"In the Westminster system, choosing a candidate who does not serve because he is (always) outside the constituency, the losers are the people in that constituency,” she said.

Yesterday, PAS announced Ahmad Samsuri as the party’s candidate to defend the seat in the by-election.

The Kemaman parliamentary by-election is being called following the Terengganu Election Court’s ruling on September 26, which nullified the victory of Che Alias Hamid, from PAS, in the 15th General Election (GE15). — Bernama