GEORGE TOWN, July 29 — It will be a straight fight between Gerakan President Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai and Pakatan Harapan’s Azrul Mahathir Aziz for the Bayan Lepas state seat.
Returning officer Mohd Hafiz Aswad Nadzri announced that both nominations were in order and confirmed their candidacy for Bayan Lepas in the state election.
Lau submitted his nomination papers at 9.03am while Azrul submitted his at 9.07am.
Bersatu Teluk Kumbar branch deputy chief Ramli Hussain was the proposer for Lau’s nomination while Bersatu Balik Pulau division committee member Madzin Che Din seconded.
Amanah Balik Pulau treasurer Safar Said and Amanah Balik Pulau Deputy Chief Jamaludin Said respectively proposed and seconded Azrul’s nomination.
Later outside, Lau, who is Penang Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman, said he hopes that the campaign will be conducted professionally by all parties.
He called on voters to come out to vote on August 12.
When asked why there was an apparent lack of PAS supporters, he said some PAS members were present.
“They came to give salam earlier,” he said.
He also said Bayan Lepas is a constituency of mixed ethnicity, so he hoped to appeal to all voters regardless of their race, religion or social standing to support PN this election.
Meanwhile, Azrul said he did not expect the constituency to become a hot seat nor that he would be going up against a PN leader.
“Pakatan in Bayan Lepas is ready to face any challenger, it is their right to contest here,” he said.
He said there seemed to be some cracks in PN’s election machinery there, but he will still work hard to defend his seat.
“I only wish to call on the constituents to vote for an assemblyman who is always on the ground and ready to serve them,” he said.
Azrul, from Amanah, is a first-term assemblyman after he won the Bayan Lepas seat with a majority of 5,245 votes in 2018.
There were a total 26,570 registered voters in Bayan Lepas in 2018.
The Bayan Lepas electorate in 2018 comprised Malays (64.4 per cent), Chinese (29.8 per cent), Indians (5.2 per cent) and others (0.4 per cent).
The Election Commission (EC) has set August 12 as the polling date for the state elections in Selangor, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Negeri Sembilan as well as the Kuala Terengganu by-election.
