PH candidate confident of ‘silent’ support from PAS supporters

PETALING JAYA: Halimey Abu Bakar, Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) candidate for the Seri Setia state by-election, is confident that he has the support of some ‘silent’ PAS supporters in the constituency.

He said this would give him the edge in his battle against his opponent from the Islamist party. “As I am a local and my parents are also from here (Seri Setia), many Umno and PAS people know me and my parents.

“So PAS support will be there but in ‘silent’ form. If get 30-40 per cent backing from PAS supporters on polling day it will be very good,” he told Bernama after hosting an Aidiladha feast for the media at Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) Lembah Subang yesterday.

Halimey, from Parti Keadilan Rakyat, is well aware that PAS has been working with Umno supporters to make inroads into Seri Setia and is not taking for granted his opponent Dr Halimah Ali.

The Seri Setia by-election on Sept 8 was called following the death of its incumbent assemblyman Prof Dr Shaharuddin Badaruddin on Aug 2 due to colon cancer. The byelection will be held concurrently with the by-election in Balakong.

Selangor is seeing three byelections since the 14th General Election (GE14) with the first the Sungai Kandis by-election on Aug 4.

The Seri Setia by-election is a straight fight between Halimey, former Petaling Jaya City Council member and Dr Halimah, who was the a former Selangor state executive councillor and former state assemblyman for Selat Klang .

On the issues faced by Lembah Subang PPR residents, Halimey said he had met with Minister of Housing and Local Government Zuraida Kamaruddin and sought immediate solutions towards replacing the lifts and water tanks at the low-cost flats.

He said these units had one of the highest number of residents under the B40 (lower income) group where efforts would be undertaken to uplift the socio-economic status of the residents.

On the progress of his fifth day of campaigning in Seri Setia, Halimey said most people at the grassroots whom he met wanted a representative from the ruling coalition to be elected to ensure the continuity of the ‘Inisiatif Peduli Rakyat’ (Concern for the People) programme mooted by PKR-led Selangor government.

Meanwhile, Dr Halimah, speaking to the press while doing campaigning rounds at the Desa Mentari apartment complex, said that she would focus on upgrading infrastructure there if given the mandate.

She said the place appeared run down and was badly in need of a facelift. - Bernama