Instead, Hamzah said the coalition will focus on defending the Kemaman parliamentary seat on Dec 2.

The opposition leader added that this was decided by the PN Supreme Council.

“PN’s component parties are also busy preparing for their respective annual general assemblies at the branch, division and national levels,” he said in a brief statement.

The Jepak state seat fell vacant following the death of its assemblyman, Talib Zulpilip, on Sept 15.

Talib, a former state minister for integrity and ombudsman, won the Jepak seat in the 2021 state elections with a majority of 4,243 votes. The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) man represented the constituency for six terms.

Bersatu, a PN component, stayed out of the 2021 Sarawak state elections as it made way for its then federal government partner Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

Its PN partner, PAS, contested the Beting Maro seat, where its candidate Arifiriazul Paijo lost to GPS’s Razaili Gapor by 1,711 votes.

However, in GE15, PN contested four parliamentary seats and managed to win one, namely the Saratok seat.

GPS chairman Abang Johari Openg had criticised PN for contesting in Sarawak in GE15, saying it did not keep its promise to stay out of the Bornean state in exchange for the coalition’s support of Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.

The Kemaman by-election, meanwhile, was called after an election court nullified PN’s win in the constituency in last year’s general election (GE15) over bribery claims.

The election court in Kuala Terengganu last month held that the distribution of i-Belia and i-Siswa government aid to voters during the campaign period constituted election bribery.

The seat had been won by PAS’s Che Alias Hamid with a majority of 27,170 votes over his nearest rival, former menteri besar Ahmad Said of Umno, who contested on a Barisan Nasional ticket.

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