KUALA LUMPUR – Hulu Selangor Bersatu acting division chief Khairul Azhari Saut, 54, is Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) candidate for the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.
PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who announced Khairul’s candidacy tonight, said that the businessman has extensive experience in the oil and gas industry, with his latest post being as a general manager at Global Valley Venture Sdn Bhd.
Muhyiddin also lauded Khairul as a “local boy” who received his early education at SK Felda Sg Tengi and SMK Felda Soeharto, both in Hulu Selangor.
Hulu Selangor is the parliamentary seat whereas Kuala Kubu Baharu is one of its three state seats.
Khairul Azhari was also previously a finance executive at Bursa Malaysia, head of the oil and gas department at Damini Corp, and a general manager at Petrogas Resources, said a factsheet issued by PN.
Besides formerly being a Hulu Selangor municipal councillor, his political experience has been as Hulu Selangor Bersatu division vice-chief from 2016 to 2019, before working his way up to the deputy position, which he held until last year.
He also holds an executive diploma in management from Universiti Malaya, and an executive Masters in business administration from Universiti Malaysia Pahang.
The by-election on May 11 is expected to be a showdown mainly between PN and the unity government, which unveiled its candidate Pang Sock Tao from DAP last night.
Pang, 31, is press secretary to Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.
Prior to that, she was a special officer to former energy, science, technology, environment and climate change minister Yeo Bee Yin.
Pang is trained in electrical and electronics engineering and graduated from Universiti Tenaga Nasional in 2017, the same year she joined DAP, working as a presenter and producer for the party’s video channel, Ubah TV.
Nomination day for the by-election is on Saturday, and at least one other candidate from the Muda-Parti Sosialis Malaysia electoral pact is expected to join the fray.
Kuala Kubu Baharu, a former MCA stronghold, has been a DAP seat for the last three elections since 2013 when DAP’s Lee Kee Hiong won it by beating her rival from the Barisan Nasional party by more than 1,700 votes.
Lee defended the seat in the 2018 general election, again beating closest contender MCA, by 7,134 votes.
In the state election in August last year, Lee beat the PN candidate from Gerakan by 4,119 votes to win the seat for a third time. Other contenders last year were a candidate from Muda and one from Parti Rakyat Malaysia.
The seat became vacant after Lee died on March 21.
The seat, which had 49.3% Malay voters in the state polls last year, is now 50% Malay, while Chinese voters make up about 20%, Indian voters 18% and Orang Asli the remainder. – April 25, 2024