2023 Pelangai by-election

A by-election was held on 7 October 2023 in the Pelangai state constituency due to the death of incumbent Johari Harun on 17 August 2023 as a result of the Elmina plane crash.

This is the latest by-election in Pahang after the 2020 Chini by-election.

Background
Pelangai is a state constituency in the Malaysian state of Pahang, and one of the four constituencies in the federal constituency of Bentong. As of August 2023, Supplementary Electoral Roll used by Election Commission (EC) for this by-election, Pelangai has 16,456 eligible registered voters, including 36 voters from the police force and 3 abroad voters.

The incumbent, Johari had held the seat for only 9 months since the 15th General Election on 19 November 2022, representing the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party under the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. The UMNO Youth Chief for Bentong, he had replaced former Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob, who has held the seat since elected in 1986 until his retirement in 2022. Johari won the seat in the 2022 Pahang state election, defeating 3 other candidates with 4,048 votes majority over his nearest rival. He had been the Pahang EXCO member for the portfolio of local government, housing, environment, and green technology until his death.

Nomination and campaign
Candidates nomination day was announced by Election Commission (EC) to be on 23 September 2023. BN has stated that it would nominate its candidate to defend the seat, and Perikatan Nasional (PN) also confirmed its intention to contest. Pakatan Harapan (PH), the other major party in the country, decided not to contest this by-election, instead helping to campaign on behalf of its partner in the federal and state government, BN. On the nomination day, 3 candidates were accepted: Amizar Abu Adam from BN, Kasim Samat from PN, and Haslihelmy DM Zulhasli as an independent candidate.

Amizar was announced as the BN candidate on 20 September, by the UMNO Vice President, UMNO Pahang Chief and Pahang Menteri Besar, Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail. Amizar, an UMNO Bentong Committee member, had previously contested in Ketari in the 2022 Pahang state election but lost by a slim majority of 120 votes.

On the same day as Amizar's announcement, PN's candidate Kasim Samat was announced by PAS Deputy President, Dato' Sri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man. The PAS Bentong Vice Chief and former teacher, Kasim was re-nominated after losing to Johari in the same seat 9 months earlier.

Haslihelmy DM Zulhasli, the president for NGO Pertubuhan Suara Anak Pahang (PSAP) is the first person to announce his intention to contest as independent on 29 August. A businessman born in Pelangai, he was an UMNO member for 15 years. His motivation to contest the election is to bring the local and youth voice to the State Assembly, and also in protest of UMNO's choice of Amizar as its candidate for the by-election. Haslihelmy's decision to contest in the by-election resulted on his UMNO membership being terminated on the nomination day.

Timeline
The key dates are listed below.

Aftermath
Amizar, the winner of the by-election, were sworn in as the new MLA for Pelangai on 13 February 2024, 4 months after his victory, before the Sultan of Pahang, Sultan Abdullah at Istana Abdulaziz. The following day, Pahang MB, Wan Rosdy announced reshuffling of the State EXCO portfolios, in which Amizar was appointed EXCO of Felda Affairs, Cooperatives and Entrepreneurs.