KUALA TERENGGANU: Barisan Nasional has been accused of contesting the Kemaman by-election merely to reduce Perikatan Nasional's majority in the seat.
Bersatu information chief Datuk Razali Idris, in fact, said BN was not serious at all in the race for the parliamentary seat.
He said the BN candidate, former armed forces chief General (Rtd) Tan Sri Raha Mohamad Affandi Raja Mohamed Nor, was only there to help BN reduce the majority which PN, through its Pas candidate, had attained in the now-annulled results in the 15th General Election (GE15).
"If this is true, then it would be better for BN to not contest the seat at all and let Pas win uncontested. The government has to spend between RM3 and RM4 million for the Kemaman by-election, money which could have been better spent on aid for flood victims," he said in a ceramah in Kijal, Kemaman, on Sunday night.
In GE15, Pas' Che Alias Hamid defeated former menteri besar and Umno state chariman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Said with a resounding 27,179-vote majority.
However, Che Alias' win was nullified by the Terengganu election court over allegations of corruption.
In the by-election, Raja Affandi will face current Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar in a straight fight.
On allegations that the current Pas state administration under Samsuri was misusing state funds, Razali, who is Kijal assemblyman, said the National Audit Department had certified the Terengganu government without censure in 2021 and 2022.
"The department audited the state government's expenditures and acknowledged that there were no issues," he said.