He said the rising prices is an issue which all previous governments have had to deal with.

The Gua Musang Umno Youth chief also said the issue of rising prices is raised by opposition politicians during every election season.

Speaking to reporters after meeting voters in Kampung Bertam Lama here, he said: “For me, it doesn’t matter who is in power. The price of goods won’t go down.

“Look at the previous administration and now the unity government … Have prices decreased? To me, regardless of who is in power, the issue (of rising prices) remains the same.”

On his campaign, Azmawi said walkabouts in the area have made him realise that Nenggiri residents want elected representatives who they can easily turn to when needed.

“The residents certainly want their area to be developed, but what’s (more) important is that they want a representative who is always there,” he said.

The Nenggiri by-election will be a straight fight between BN and Perikatan Nasional, which is represented by Rizwadi Ismail, who recently joined Bersatu from PAS.

Nenggiri has 20,259 voters on the electoral roll. The Kelantan state assembly seat was won by BN in four consecutive elections since 2004 before losing to PN last year when Azizi Abu Naim defeated Umno’s Ab Aziz Yussof with a majority of 810 votes.

The seat was declared vacant on June 19 after Bersatu informed the state assembly speaker that Azizi had ceased to be a member of the party on June 13.