BN’s deputy director for the Nenggiri by-election, Syahbuddin Hashim, said Azizi’s decision not to be directly involved in the campaign could be due to the latter’s confidence in the coalition’s machinery to secure a win.

Syahbuddin said Azizi had asked his family members to assist in campaigning for the BN candidate, Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani.

“Initially, when he expressed his support for the BN candidate, I invited Azizi to campaign together. Perhaps he believes the BN machinery is sufficient, so he has been supporting us from behind the scenes.

“I met with his family and they confirmed that Azizi supports the BN candidate and has asked them to join in the campaigning,” he told a press conference at BN’s main operations room in Bukit Cekati.

The Nenggiri by-election is being held after the Kelantan assembly speaker declared the seat vacant after Bersatu revoked Azizi’s membership in the party for his failure to declare his loyalty to his party and his declaration of support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.

Ku Li to join in campaigning on Tuesday

Meanwhile, Syahbuddin announced that Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who is Umno’s director for the by-election, would be meeting voters on Tuesday.

He said although Tengku Razaleigh, better known as Ku Li, has yet to go to the ground with the campaign machinery, he has been closely monitoring the situation and receiving daily reports.

The Nenggiri by-election will see a straight fight between Azmawi and Perikatan Nasional candidate Rizwadi Ismail.

A total of 20,259 voters, including 14 police personnel, are eligible to vote in the by-election.