SHAH ALAM, July 22 — Sg Kandis here will host the country’s first by-election since the change of government in May, but few in the area appear aware of the fact.

A day after nomination yesterday, there were also hardly any flags or banners touting the political parties that are set to vie for the Selangor state assembly seat on August 4.

To the disinterested residents, it was businesses as usual along Jalan Kebun and Taman Sri Andalas.

“There is an election? Are you sure?” a voter who only wanted to be known as Radif asked Malay Mail in return when approached for a straw poll on the by-election.

Today is also the first official day of campaigning for the poll.

Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Lokman Noor Adam, a former PKR member, will take on an unknown newcomer from his old party, Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, in what is anticipated to be a fierce fight between the two rival parties.

Although there is a third independent candidate, K. Murthy, in the race, both Umno and PKR do not expect him to figure in the contest.

Of the seven voters Malay Mail approached, just one was aware that a by-election was taking place in the area.

However, Khalid Bakar, 42, who has been following news of the poll, said he will abstain from voting.

“PKR will definitely win. I don’t want to spend hours again like I did on May 9,” he said, referring to the queue he had to endure to cast his votes during the 14th general election (GE14).

A low turnout is predicted for the poll due to the proximity to the general election and the absence of any significant stake in the contest: Pakatan Harapan won 50 of the 56 seats in the state assembly in May.

The Sungai Kandis seat fell vacant following the death of its assemblyman Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei from PKR on July 2 after battling lymphatic cancer.

GE14 saw a four-cornered fight in Sungai Kandis between PKR, Umno, PAS and Parti Rakyat Malaysia, with PKR winning the seat with 23,998 votes.

Umno came in second place with 11,518 votes, while PAS trailed behind with 7,573 votes.

This time, PAS is yielding the berth for Umno to take on PKR in a straight fight, in the first signs of the new alliances forming in the aftermath of GE14.

Lokman suggested today that PAS could even support his campaign, aside from sitting out the race.

The Sungai Kandis constituency has 51,230 registered voters comprising 51,217 ordinary voters and 13 overseas voters.