KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — Barisan Nasional (BN) today announced that it will contest 108 seats in the six state elections on Aug 12, and named the candidates who will be fielded.
BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, at the BN candidate announcement ceremony tonight, said 63 per cent of the candidates are new faces, 18 per cent are incumbents and the rest are those who have contested before.
“Also, 87 per cent of these candidates have academic qualifications at the higher education level, including those with specialised or professional qualifications,” said Ahmad Zahid who is also UMNO president.
Tonight’s announcement saw BN fielding candidates from UMNO following its component parties, MIC and MCA, deciding not to contest on Aug 12.
The Election Commission (EC) has set the state polls in Selangor, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Negeri Sembilan to be held simultaneously on Aug 12, with nomination day on July 29 and early voting on Aug 8.
The polls involve 36 seats in Kedah, Kelantan (45), Terengganu (32), Penang (40), Selangor (56) and Negeri Sembilan (36).
