Nazri wants to contest Padang Rengas again

Former Padang Rengas MP Nazri Aziz is looking to contest the seat again in the 16th general election (GE16).

The former Umno supreme council member, who represented the constituency for four terms from 2004 to 2022, insisted that the seat had traditionally been contested by Barisan Nasional (BN).

Nazri, who still heads the Umno division there, said he wanted to represent the constituency again after completing his tenure as Malaysia’s ambassador to the US.

Although the seat is currently held by Wawasan’s Azahari Hasan, it has been represented by an Umno MP since the federal constituency was created in 1974.

“That is a BN seat. Find another seat,” he said when asked whether Perikatan Nasional (PN) would seek to defend the constituency in GE16.

“I am still the division chief and intend to contest the parliamentary seat.”

Nazri’s position raises questions about seat allocation should the electoral cooperation between BN and PN in the Negeri Sembilan and Melaka state elections extend to GE16.

In August 2021, Nazri announced that he would retire from politics and not contest GE15 to make way for younger leaders.

BN candidate Arrif Abdul Majid, who replaced Nazri in GE15, lost to Azahari by a majority of 3,046 votes.

Nazri served as Malaysia’s ambassador to the US from February 2023 to February 2025.

After returning from the US, Nazri said he wanted to help Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim prepare for GE16 rather than stand as a candidate himself.

However, in April, Nazri said he was willing to contest Padang Rengas again, subject to approval from Umno’s leadership.