Nomination for Balakong, Seri Setia by-elections begins at 9am

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 (Bernama) – The nomination for the Balakong and Seri Setia state by-elections will begin simultaneously at 9am today.

For the Balakong state seat, the nomination process will be held at Dewan Demense of the Hulu Langat District and Land Office, while in Seri Setia, it will be held at Dewan Sivik of the Petaling Jaya City Council.

Candidates have one hour to submit their nomination papers, after which the returning officers will announce the names of the candidates contesting the by-elections.

Pakatan Harapan (PH) will be fielding former member of the Subang Jaya Municipal Council Wong Siew Ki, 32, who is also the Serdang DAP Wanita vice chief, to defend its Balakong state seat.

In the Balakong by-election, MCA is fielding Tan Chee Teong as its candidate ,will for the first time be using its own logo.

Besides PH and MCA, Parti Rakyat Malaysia is also expected to contest in the Balakong by-election, as announced by its president Ariffin Saimon on Aug 5, but the party candidate remains unknown.

For the Seri Setia by-election, PKR on Thursday announced former member of the Petaling Jaya City Council Halimey Abu Bakar, 46, as the PH candidate.

Halimey will be opposed by PAS candidate former Selat Klang assemblywoman Dr Halimah Ali, 58, who is also former Selangor state executive councillor.

The Balakong seat fell vacant after the death of the assemblyman, Eddie Ng Thien Chee of DAP, in a road accident on July 20.

The Seri Setia seat became vacant after the death of the assemblyman, Prof Dr Shaharuddin  Badaruddin of PKR, of colon cancer on Aug 2.

The by-elections are the second and third to be held after the 14th general election on May 9, with the first in Sungai Kandis. It was held on Aug 4.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Meteorological Department has forecast fine weather on the nomination day for the two by-elections, according to its website.

The Election Commissions has fixed polling for the Seri Setia by-election on Sept 8, the same day with the Balakong by-election, while early voting will be on Sept 4.

-- BERNAMA