MELAKA, Nov 14 — A three-way contest featuring a former aide to the Melaka chief minister, a silat instructor and a former university information technology chief could be adding to the excitement in Serkam, which recorded the highest voter turnout among the state’s 28 constituencies today.

The Election Commission’s (EC) real-time Voter Turnout Monitoring dashboard showed that over 51 per cent of registered voters in N. 26 Serkam had cast their ballots as of 1pm, especially when contrasted against N. 22 Bandar Hilir’s 38.5 per cent.

The constituency had been leading the turnout the whole morning and the numbers are climbing fast.

The keen interest in Serkam comes amid a closely watched three-cornered contest between Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Azman Abdullah, Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Muhammad Faiq Azman and Parti Bersama Malaysia’s (Bersama) Muhamad Saffie Md Yasan.

All three are first-time candidates, but bring markedly different backgrounds and approaches to the race.

Azman, 54, is BN’s new face in the constituency but is no stranger to local politics, having spent more than a decade working alongside elected representatives and serving residents.

The Kampung Tedong native was a special officer to the Melaka chief minister from 2024 to 2026, and previously served as Tedong Umno chief and deputy Jasin Umno chief.

He has said his experience working with elected representatives had given him an understanding of residents’ needs and the problems they face.

His challengers offer different profiles, with Faiq, 36, bringing his experience as a silat instructor and involvement in community associations.

The Bukit Katil Giatmara alumnus has been teaching silat with Persatuan Seni Silat Langkah Bromo since 2000 and is also a committee member of Persatuan Seni Silat Gerak Tepat.

Saffie, 53, meanwhile, brings 18 years of public-sector experience, including serving as chief information technology officer at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK) from 2007 to 2018.

The Bersama candidate holds a master’s degree in Information Technology in Manufacturing from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and was involved in the planning committee for the establishment of UMK in 2006.

Although he is not originally from Serkam, Saffie has pledged to relocate to the constituency if elected, and has proposed using technology to improve public services, including a dedicated constituency application for complaints and welfare assistance.

The contest is particularly significant given Serkam’s narrow result in the 2021 Melaka election, when BN’s Datuk Zaidi Attan retained the seat with a majority of just 79 votes against Perikatan Nasional’s candidate.

Zaidi is not defending the seat this time, leaving BN to rely on Azman to retain the constituency against two challengers seeking to break its hold.

The close previous result, the change of BN candidate and the contrasting profiles of the three contenders make Serkam one of the constituencies worth watching as polling continues.

The EC is targeting a 70 per cent turnout in the Melaka election, which sees 79 candidates contesting 28 seats.

A total of 240 polling centres, comprising 1,213 polling streams, opened at 8am today and will close at 6pm.

PH is fielding the most candidates, contesting 24 seats, followed by BN with 23, Bersama with 16, Bersatu with seven, Perikatan Nasional (PN) with five, Parti Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia with one and three independents.

The election follows the dissolution of the 15th Melaka State Legislative Assembly on September 23, with the consent of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam.

In the previous state election on November 20, 2021, BN won 21 of the 28 seats, while PH took five and PN secured two.