KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 -- Selangor's Perikatan Nasional (PN) chief Datuk Seri Azmin Ali on Saturday said the academic qualifications of the coalition's candidate for the Kuala Kubu Baru by-election have been "meticulously" screened, as he dismissed allegations that they were forged.

Khairul Azhari Saut's education background has become the subject of rivals' scrutiny ahead of the May 11 polls that analysts predict would see PN mount a serious challenge, in a battle touted to be a bellwether for ethnic minority support of the Anwar government in the general election.

"The proof (of the academic credentials) is there. He did not misrepresent himself and did not claim to have obtained a master's degree from any specific course," Azmin was ...