PETALING JAYA: A showdown between the Terengganu chiefs of Bersatu and Barisan Nasional is shaping up in the contest for the Kijal seat, according to a source.
The state seat has been held by Terengganu BN chief Ahmad Said, who is also a former menteri besar, since 1990.
A Bersatu source told FMT that the party leadership had decided to field its information chief and head of its Terengganu chapter, Razali Idris, in Kijal.
“As the number one Bersatu leader in Terengganu, the party believes that he is the most qualified to wrest the Kijal state seat from Umno,” said the source.
When contacted, Razali simply urged everyone to wait for the state Perikatan Nasional leadership to finalise the list of candidates.
“I have heard such rumours (of being fielded in Kijal), but I’m leaving it to PAS since they are the (state) leaders here,” he said.
It is understood that Ahmad will defend his seat during the Aug 12 state elections. In the 2018 general election, Ahmad retained his seat with a majority of 1,265 votes in a three-cornered contest.
In last year’s general election (GE15), he contested for the Kemaman parliamentary seat but lost to PAS’ Che Alias Hamid by a mammoth 27,179 votes.
PAS made a clean sweep of all eight parliamentary seats in Terengganu that were up for grabs in GE15.
Meanwhile, Razali said Bersatu was expected to get a total of six seats in Terengganu as opposed to five previously. However, he said, the final decision would be made by Thursday.