Five years on, PH faces a challenge for Selangor seats
Pakatan Harapan is expected to grab the most Dewan Rakyat seats in Selangor but it could turn out to be a more challenging task than in 2018.
PETALING JAYA: Selangor will be the arena of several high profile contests for parliamentary seats in the Nov 19 general election, with questions now being asked whether Pakatan Harapan will dominate the fray as in 2018.
Of the 22 parliamentary seats in Selangor, PH won 20 in May 2018 but political manoeuvres left it with 16 at the time of Parliament’s dissolution. Perikatan Nasional had 3, Parti Bangsa Malaysia 2 and Barisan Nasional 1.
The coalition’s dominance may be waning. The Anwar Ibrahim-led coalition lasted only 22 months in power as the federal government when BN, Bersatu, PAS and a faction led by PKR’s then deputy president Azmin Ali joined forces to form the PN government in March 2020.
PH would lose five seats after political defections, most notably Gombak and Ampang, which were won by Azmin and then PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin with a majority of 48,721 and 41,956 votes respectively.
Azmin is now with Bersatu while Zuraida is in PBM having left Bersatu.
BN will be looking to pounce on the doubts over PH’s credentials but will face strong competition after having performed poorly in the state in the past two general elections. Umno won four seats in 2013 and only two in 2018.
Selangor Umno chairman Noh Omar has said that BN was confident of winning three-cornered contests in the state against PH and PN.
He said Umno expected a tough challenge because of the large number of voters in the state. However, he was confident Umno could win more seats than in the 2018 general election.
PN, which comprises Bersatu, PAS and Gerakan in the peninsula, will be contesting its first general election as a coalition.
Its chairman Muhyiddin Yassin has deemed BN its main enemy in GE15 but PN may face an even tougher opponent in PH after PKR president Anwar said his party would go all out to reclaim constituencies held by “traitors”.
This includes the Gombak parliamentary seat that Azmin won on a PH ticket.
It remains to be seen how voters will take to PN given the generally-held perception that coalition linchpin Bersatu is a party of “frogs” or party hoppers.
Following the 2018 general election, 15 Umno MPs joined Bersatu to be part of the government while Azmin and 10 other PKR MPs also joined the party later, after being sacked from PKR in the wake of the Sheraton Move which had caused the collapse of the PH federal government.
All eyes will be on Azmin if he seeks to defend Gombak with particular attention on PKR’s choice of candidate to challenge him. It is likely that Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari will be challenging him for the seat.
The contest in Kuala Selangor is also expected to attract interest.
Selangor BN treasurer Tengku Zafrul Aziz, the finance minister in Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government, is said to be eyeing the seat. Should he be fielded there, he is expected to face Amanah’s Dzulkefly Ahmad, the two-term MP for the seat.
None of the three major coalitions can be certain of grabbing the lion’s share of Selangor’s parliamentary seats, with each coalition seen to have shortcomings.
However, PH can draw a large measure of confidence from its past performance and the tendency for urban voters to opt for the coalition. Selangor has a total of about 3.6 million registered voters.
The general election will take place on Nov 19, with early voting set for Nov 15.
PETALING JAYA: Selangor will be the arena of several high profile contests for parliamentary seats in the Nov 19 general election, with questions now being asked whether Pakatan Harapan will dominate the fray as in 2018.
Of the 22 parliamentary seats in Selangor, PH won 20 in May 2018 but political manoeuvres left it with 16 at the time of Parliament’s dissolution. Perikatan Nasional had 3, Parti Bangsa Malaysia 2 and Barisan Nasional 1.
The coalition’s dominance may be waning. The Anwar Ibrahim-led coalition lasted only 22 months in power as the federal government when BN, Bersatu, PAS and a faction led by PKR’s then deputy president Azmin Ali joined forces to form the PN government in March 2020.
PH would lose five seats after political defections, most notably Gombak and Ampang, which were won by Azmin and then PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin with a majority of 48,721 and 41,956 votes respectively.
Azmin is now with Bersatu while Zuraida is in PBM having left Bersatu.
BN will be looking to pounce on the doubts over PH’s credentials but will face strong competition after having performed poorly in the state in the past two general elections. Umno won four seats in 2013 and only two in 2018.
Selangor Umno chairman Noh Omar has said that BN was confident of winning three-cornered contests in the state against PH and PN.
He said Umno expected a tough challenge because of the large number of voters in the state. However, he was confident Umno could win more seats than in the 2018 general election.
PN, which comprises Bersatu, PAS and Gerakan in the peninsula, will be contesting its first general election as a coalition.
Its chairman Muhyiddin Yassin has deemed BN its main enemy in GE15 but PN may face an even tougher opponent in PH after PKR president Anwar said his party would go all out to reclaim constituencies held by “traitors”.
This includes the Gombak parliamentary seat that Azmin won on a PH ticket.
It remains to be seen how voters will take to PN given the generally-held perception that coalition linchpin Bersatu is a party of “frogs” or party hoppers.
Following the 2018 general election, 15 Umno MPs joined Bersatu to be part of the government while Azmin and 10 other PKR MPs also joined the party later, after being sacked from PKR in the wake of the Sheraton Move which had caused the collapse of the PH federal government.
All eyes will be on Azmin if he seeks to defend Gombak with particular attention on PKR’s choice of candidate to challenge him. It is likely that Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari will be challenging him for the seat.
The contest in Kuala Selangor is also expected to attract interest.
Selangor BN treasurer Tengku Zafrul Aziz, the finance minister in Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government, is said to be eyeing the seat. Should he be fielded there, he is expected to face Amanah’s Dzulkefly Ahmad, the two-term MP for the seat.
None of the three major coalitions can be certain of grabbing the lion’s share of Selangor’s parliamentary seats, with each coalition seen to have shortcomings.
However, PH can draw a large measure of confidence from its past performance and the tendency for urban voters to opt for the coalition. Selangor has a total of about 3.6 million registered voters.
The general election will take place on Nov 19, with early voting set for Nov 15.
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