KUCHING: The Santubong parliamentary seat will witness a three-way fight among Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Pakatan Harapan (PH) and an independent candidate.
GPS is being represented by Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, 61, who switched to the seat from the Batang Sadong parliamentary seat, which she has represented since 2008.
She is being challenged by Mohamad Zen Peli, a PH candidate from Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and independent candidate, Affendi Jeman.
This was announced by the returning officer for the Santubong parliamentary seat, Sopie Jaafar, at 11.06am at the nomination centre located at Institut Kemahiran Mara (IKM) Kuching.
Sopie confirmed that none of the candidates had their nomination papers rejected.
Nancy, who's also caretaker tourism, arts and culture minister, was selected to defend the Santubong parliamentary seat for GPs following the withdrawal of its incumbent, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
During GE14, Wan Junaidi, who had stood in Santubong since 2004, successfully defended the seat, winning with a 19,485 majority.
Zen, 51, said his involvement in GE15 was in line with the democratic process and is hoping to be given the opportunity to serve in the constituency.
"I am on a national mission to ensure that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim becomes the prime minister. In line with this, the issues I will raise are the same issues which PH has raised on a national level," says the candidate, who's also a businessman.
Meanwhile, Affendi uses an acronym 'BN' as a tagline for campaign and deep blue colour scheme which is also similar to Barisan Nasional (BN)'s traditional colour.
However, the 59-year-old businessman was quick to point out that the acronym BN actually means "Bawa Nikmat" (Bringing Comfort) and not as otherwise assumed and he hoped it will draw people to his campaign.
