Which seat will Azmin contest?
KLANG: The biggest question in Selangor is which parliamentary seat PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali will be contesting in.
Party insiders say Azmin, who is also Selangor Mentri Besar, will be moving out from the Gombak parliamentary seat, a Malay-majority PAS stronghold.
The talk is that he will either contest in Shah Alam – with incumbent Amanah MP Khalid Samad moving to Johor – or Petaling Jaya (formerly Petaling Jaya Selatan), a PKR seat.
However, Khalid denied he’s moving to Johor, pointing out that Amanah was only allocated two seats in Johor.
“And I can confirm that Shah Alam is being retained by Amanah,” he said.
A PKR source said there was a high chance that Petaling Jaya incumbent MP Lee Hoy Sian would be contesting a state seat and might even replace party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in Kajang.
Sources said Azmin, who is also the state rep for Bukit Antarabangsa, might face trouble in Gombak due to a large number of PAS grassroots still feeling miffed about the party being thrown out of the defunct Pakatan Rakyat.
“Many members are angry that PKR did not ‘stand up’ to DAP to defend PAS,” said a source.
If this is true, Azmin, who won with a 4,734-majority in 2013, may have to brace for a backlash.
Selangor PAS election director Roslan Shahir admitted that there were still hard feelings among its members against Azmin.
“The freezing of state allocations for PAS elected representatives was also not well received. Yes, they are angry,” he said.
The Selangor government had held back the annual allocations to PAS assemblymen, resulting in them having to fork out their own money to service their constituents.
Roslan said Azmin’s recent “involvement” in Paya Jaras assemblyman Mohd Khairuddin Othman’s defection from PAS was also a factor.
“We know that PKR has been trying to snag our members and succeeded by getting Mohd Khairuddin.
“Our people are angry with PKR for doing it,” said Roslan.