Slim showdown: A guide to the personalities and issues in the fray
KINIGUIDE | Despite facing two challengers, BN's Mohd Zaidi is favoured to defend the seat for his party.
KINIGUIDE | The Slim by-election is set to see heavily-favoured Barisan Nasional candidate Mohd Zaidi Aziz take on independent Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi.
Mohd Zaidi is from Umno, while Amir Khusyairi is backed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad's newly-formed Parti Pejuang Tanah Air.
However, the nominations today saw another independent candidate enter the fray, making it a three-cornered fight.
There were two other aspiring independent candidates, but they were unable to submit their nomination papers in time.
Here is Malaysiakini's guide to the candidates in the Slim by-election.
1. Mohd Zaidi Aziz (Umno-BN)
Mohd Zaidi, 43, is no stranger to the folks in Slim. He is the current acting Tanjung Malim division chief.
He was the Slim Village Umno branch youth chief from 2000 to 2018 as well as the Slim division youth committee member.
In 2013, he was also appointed as the party's Tanjung Malim information chief before he rose to become the division deputy chief in 2018.
Mohd Zaidi holds a Bachelor of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences from the International Islamic University Malaysia.
The father of four has also held various positions in at least 12 associations such as the deputy president of Youth Workers National Federation and the secretary-general of the Asean youth cooperation committee.
Should he be elected, Mohd Zaidi has promised to fight for the interest of the people and solve their problems to the best of his ability.
2. Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi (Independent)
Amir Khusyairi will contest as an independent but ex-prime minister Mahathir, who recently launched Pejuang, said that the candidate would be representing his latest political vehicle.
Leaders from Pakatan Harapan parties comprising PKR, DAP and Amanah were also present at the launch of Amir Khusyairi's candidacy and have made it clear that he has their backing.
The 38-year-old is a syariah lawyer who holds a law degree from International Islamic University Malaysia.
A native Perakian, Amir Khusyairi, is fluent in three languages, including Arabic.
His mother Hajah Jariah Mohd Yunus and late father Mohamad Tanusi Maulut were both religious teachers.
Amir Khusyairi's wife Dr Nur Aainaa Othman is a radiologist at Teluk Intan hospital.
Upon his nomination, Amir Khusyairi told the media that he hoped the Slim by-election would be a starting point towards correcting what is wrong.
Amir Khusyairi is contesting using the 'tree' logo.
3. Santharasekaran Subramaniam (Independent)
According to Santharasekaran, he was a former school teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bandar Behrang 2020.
He only tendered his resignation letter yesterday to contest in the by-election.
Santharasekaran described himself as an environmental conservationist and was involved with Pertubuhan Konservasi Alam Malaysia.
The 45-year-old said it was his ambition to join politics eventually.
Santharasekaran said his father was a politician with MIC and his mother was an attendant (pengiring) to the Perak Sultanah.
He is contesting in the Slim by-election using the 'book' logo.
The Slim by-election was called following the demise of incumbent Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib on July 15 from a cardiac arrest.
It will be held on Aug 29 with early voting set on Aug 25.
Slim has 23,094 registered voters, comprising mostly Malays by 75 percent, followed by Indians (13 percent), Chinese (10 percent), and others (two percent).
Analysts have predicted an easy win for Umno due to the seat being a party stronghold for the past four terms under the late Mohd Khusairi.
In the 14th general election, Mohd Khusairi won the Slim seat defeating Bersatu's Mohd Amran Ibrahim and PAS’ Muhammad Zulfadli Zainal, by a majority of 2,183 votes.
The fact that combined votes for Umno/BN and PAS amounted to 65 percent of total votes would point to a comfortable win for Mohd Zaidi.
Slim falls under the Tanjung Malim parliamentary seat. Since its creation in 1959, Tanjung Malim was held by MCA until PKR's Chang Lih Kang wrested the seat away two years ago for Harapan in GE14.
However, of the three state seats within Tanjung Malim, Sungkai and Behrang supported Harapan, while Slim stayed loyal to Mohd Khusairi and Umno.
The balance of power in the state is also not a factor as Perak Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu, who is with Bersatu, enjoys a stronger majority under Perikatan Nasional than he did when he led the state under Harapan.
The Slim by-election is not anticipated to turn into a referendum by voters on the transfer of allegiance by Azumu at the state level and Muhyiddin at the federal level.
Perak opposition leader Abdul Aziz Bari had also stressed that the opposition would face an uphill battle on their hands.
"The locals, especially the Malays, only see and understand local issues.
"They may well have no idea of other standards or levels of development and do not realise how Umno has failed to achieve much despite being in power for over 60 years," said Abdul Aziz.
The Slim by-election is the second after Chini to take place under the recovery movement control order, as well as since PN came to power in March this year following the collapse of the Harapan federal administration.
It's also the 12th by-election since the 2018 general election.
Related reports:
Bersatu Youth booed at BN event, told to prove their worth to Umno's Slim candidate
'Credibility trumps’ - Pejuang man responds to Umno playing 'local' card
Slim by-election to see three-cornered fight
Umno plays 'government, local' cards in first salvo against Pejuang's candidate
This instalment of KiniGuide was compiled by FAISAL ASYRAF.
