PERMATANG PAUH: Umno has picked lawyer Rohaizat Othman, 38, Permatang Pauh Umno division secretary to stand for the Permatang Pasir by election on August 25.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin made the announcement at the launch of Barisan Nasional's (BN) election machinery at Bukit Merah in Permatang Pasir.

Rohaizat has been in the Permatang Pauh Umno division since 1995.

The International Islamic University law graduate, who is a partner in a law firm, is married to Universiti Sains Malaysia pharmacy faculty lecturer Khairul Niza Abdul Razak and the couple have a nine year old son, Aiman Hidayat.

In his speech, Muhyiddin expressed confidence the voters could judge for themselves the performance of the Pakatan Rakyat state governments since March 8.

"After the new leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, there has a change in the mindsets of the people as we have seen in Manek Urai where we lost by just 65 votes.

"I believe after the string of defeats since March 8, Permatang Pasir would be the 'anak emas' for the BN to make a strong comeback," he added.

Permatang Pasir has 20,450 registered voters, of which 14,850 are Malays, 5,247 Chinese and only 250 Indian voters.

The seat fell vacant after three term PAS assemblyman Datuk Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman passed away on July 31.

Hamdan had retained the seat by garnering 11,004 votes to defeat BN's Ahmad Sahar Shuib (5,571 votes) in the general election last year.

He also won the seat during the 1999 and 2004 general elections.

Also present were Penang Umno chief Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, MCA vice president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and other BN leaders.