PADANG TERAP: Perikatan Nasional (PN) election director Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has admitted that the coalition is facing an uphill battle to retain the Sungai Bakap state seat in Penang in the by-election.
Therefore, Sanusi said, PN would not take the challenge mounted by Pakatan Harapan to wrest the seat to prove that the Madani government slogans were accepted by the voters.
"Definitely, the federal government wishes to prove that they have been accepted (through) Madani slogans (which claimed to be embedded in the people's minds.
"As such, to prove that, they (PH) want to win in the polls (because) they (PH) are the federal government and Penang PN is the opposition," he told reporters after participating in the Greater Kedah Charity Ride at Masjid Kampung Muda in Pedu here today.
Sanusi, who is also Kedah menteri besar, acknowledged that repeating PN's victory in Sungai Bakap would be a mammoth task.
"I don't view (the polls) as a small matter, so we will have to work hard to retain our victory in Sungai Bakap.
"We have started the groundwork, including the launching of election machinery and a meeting by the Sungai Bakap by-election main committee led by Pas vice-president Datuk Idris Ahmad."
Sanusi hoped that the eligible voters in Sungai Bakap, consisting of 60 per cent Malay voters, 22 per cent Chinese voters and 16 per cent Indian voters, would support PN in the polls.
He added that PN would be focusing on issues such as cronyism and nepotism at the federal and state levels.
The Election Commission (EC) has fixed July 6 for the Sungai Bakap by-election polling day with 39,279 eligible voters.
EC deputy chairman Professor Azmi Sharom was reported as saying that the nomination of candidates for the by-election would be held on June 22 , and early voting on July 2.
The by-election follows the death of assemblyman, Pas' Nor Zamri Latiff, on May 24.
Zamri died after being admitted for inflammation of the stomach.
In the 2023 state polls, Zamri won the Sungai Bakap state seat against PKR's Nurhidayah Che Rus with a 1,563 vote-majority.
Yesterday, Pas deputy president Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man hinted that PN would announce its candidate on June 16.
