KUALA BESUT, July 12 — Both Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS are set to nominate young professionals to court the votes of rural Kuala Besut today, bucking the recent trend in the east coast where both sides offered ulamas, or religious scholars.

New faces Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman, 37, from BN and PAS’s Azlan Yusof, 48, have their work cut out for them though as the late Dr A. Rahman Mokhtar, who died on June 26, triggering the by-election, was very popular.

With the former a Besut Drainage and Irrigation Department engineer, and the latter a contractor specialising in construction and civil engineering projects, both are expected to offer an insight into the infrastructure needs of Kuala Besut.

Sitting on the border between Terengganu and Kelantan, this quiet fishing town has remained relatively underdeveloped despite being a significant tourist entry point to resort islands off Terengganu coast such as Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Redang.

Fishermen also have been reported complaining of a shallow river mouth caused by silting, forcing most deep-sea fishermen to land their catch in Kelantan’s Tok Bali instead, which is also Kuala Besut’s competitor as a jump-off point for island-hoppers.

Surprise candidate Azlan, also popularly known as Che Long, is a local favourite who dabbles in the wood-product trade in addition to being a Class A contractor.

“Che Long holds an advantage by being in his area all the time compared to the BN candidate,” PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said in a media report recently.

PAS candidate Endot @ Azlan Yusof (in green) and BN candidate Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman (in blue) wave to supporters at the Kuala Besut by-election nomination centre on July 12, 2013. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

The Besut PAS treasurer holds a contractor certificate from the Malaysian Industrial Training Institute, and was said to have beaten two ustazs (religious teachers) to be nominated by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang in Kampung Nail here on Tuesday.

His nomination has been a big slap to Besut PAS Muslimat chief Napisah Ismail, who was afforded only one chance at the polls, and national syura council secretary Nik Muhamad Zawawi Nik Salleh, who has failed in two previous attempts.

However, BN is banking on Tengku Zaihan’s professional credentials to woo voters away from the allegedly underqualified Azlan. The Kampung Pekan Baru Umno Youth committee member is a graduate of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

“My to’ki (grandfather) was a fisherman. But my father taught the Quran and became a full-time teacher at the school he had co-founded,” Tengku Zaihan told reporters recently, hoping to connect with the locals.

His candidacy was announced by Umno deputy president and by-election director Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin before a crowd of 4,000 in Dataran Kuala Besut here, also on Tuesday.

Late assemblyman Dr A. Rahman was a respected doctor in the community, and had won by a 2,434-vote majority in the last polls.

The Kuala Besut by-election will be held on July 24, with today being the Nomination Day.