1983 Kenering by-election

Wan Mohamed Wan Teh was first elected to the Perak State Legislative Assembly seat of Gerik at the 1974 Perak state election, as a candidate for Barisan Nasional (BN) . He were later appointed as Menteri Besar of Perak in 1977, after the resignation of Mohamad Ghazali Jawi. Wan Mohamed won the state seat of Temenggor in the 1978 Perak state election, and won the state seat of Kenering in the 1982 Perak state election.^[3]

On 22 February 1983, Wan Mohamed tendered his resignation as Menteri Besar of Perak, and also his state seat of Kenering, for health reasons.^[2] This was after he suffered a stroke on 25 September 1982, while he was speaking in an official function. He were admitted to hospital after his stroke, and later after his discharge were forced to take a prolonged leave of absence from his official duties, with Ramli Ngah Talib acting as Menteri Besar. His resignation were made effective 1 March 1983, with Ramli officially taking over as Menteri Besar.^[4] Wan Mohamed also resigned from his role as BN Perak state liaison chief and United Malays National Organization (UMNO) Parit Buntar division chief, though he remained the party's Supreme Council member and Gerik division chief.

The dates for the by-election and nomination were announced by the Election Commission of Malaysia on 4 March 1983.^[5]

After nominations closed on 24 March 1983, it was confirmed there will be a straight fight between BN and Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) candidate.^[6] BN nominated Johan Lahamat, a businessman who is former UMNO Gerik division Youth chief and the current party Gerik town chairman, while PAS nominated Mohd Arif Yaacob, the party's Gerik division chief. Democratic Action Party (DAP), whose candidate contested against Wan Mohamed in the 1982 state election, did not file any nomination for the by-election. The reason given by the party is they want to consolidate in recapture the seats lost by DAP in the last election, but were seen by the opponents of the party as abandoning rural areas.^[7]

The key dates are listed below.