The 16th Negeri Sembilan state election has spotlighted M. Leevineshwaraan, the youngest candidate contesting for a seat and seeking the people’s mandate.
KUALA LUMPUR: The 16th Negeri Sembilan state election has spotlighted M. Leevineshwaraan, the youngest candidate contesting for a seat and seeking the people’s mandate.
The 23-year-old, representing Bersatu, will face a five-way battle for the Sri Tanjung state seat as he seeks to prove himself to voters.
Leevineshwaraan’s biggest challenge comes from incumbent Datuk Dr G. Rajasekaran of Pakatan Harapan (PH), who secured the seat in the previous election with a 3,996-vote majority.
In the 15th state polls in 2023, Muhammad Syakir Fitri Sadri held the record as the youngest candidate, contesting the Paroi state seat as an Independent at the age of 25.
Sri Tanjung is one of five state seats within the Port Dickson constituency, where 19,590 registered voters are eligible to vote in the upcoming election.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and PH’s Abd Latif A Tambi, both aged 70, are the senior-most candidates in this year’s state election.
Mohamad, who is defending the Rantau seat, and Abd Latif, contesting in Gemencheh, will each go head-to-head in a two-way race.
In the previous state election, the oldest candidate was Bujang Abu, 72, who stood as an Independent.
However, Bujang will not be contesting in this election after failing to provide the documents required by the Election Commission (EC).
The Rantau state seat, within the Rembau parliamentary constituency, has 34,831 eligible voters, while Gemencheh, within the Tampin parliamentary constituency, has 24,916 eligible voters.
Nine of the 103 candidates contesting the state polls are women, with PH fielding the highest number, at four.
The number marks a slight increase over the previous election, in which eight of the 83 candidates were women.
The EC has announced that early voting will take place on July 28, with polling day scheduled for Aug 1.
