Selangor will see just four straight fights
PETALING JAYA: Only four state assembly seats will see direct fights in Selangor. All others, including parliamentary seats, are set to be a multiple-cornered slugfest involving three to five candidates each.
The direct fights will be in Seri Kembangan, where DAP incumbent Ean Yong Hian Wah will take on MCA’s Chang Toong Woh; Bandar Baru Klang where DAP veteran Datuk Teng Chang Khim will meet MCA’s Teoh Kah Yeong.
In Bukit Lanjan, PKR incumbent Elizabeth Wong will face off with Gerakan’s Syed Abdul Razak Syed Long Alsagof whilst MCA’s Tan Gim Tuan will battle PKR’s Lim Yi Wei in Kampung Tunku.
The Pandan parliamentary seat, contested by PKR president Datuk Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, has five candidates including former DAP Teratai assemblyman Jenice Lee who is now a PRM candidate.
Other five-cornered fights will be for state assembly seats Taman Templer, Bukit Antarabangsa, Meru, Selat Kelang, Sentosa and Kota Kemuning.
Among the candidates in Bukit Antarabangsa is incumbent Datuk Seri Azmin Ali who is being challenged by his younger brother Azwan Ali, contesting as an independent.
The number of candidates contesting in this election also shows a sharp increase from the 2013 polls.
In 2013, 64 candidates contested for 22 parliamentary seats whilst 100 candidates went for the 56 state assembly seats.
This time round, 75 candidates are battling in the parliamentary seats and 190 are vying for the state seats. However, the number of independent candidates has reduced drastically compared to the previous election.
When contacted, Selangor PKR information chief Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei said this could be due to escalating expenses.
“As an independent, one has to spend a lot of money. Maybe some of those interested did not want to spend so much and that is why not many are contesting as independents this year,’’ he said.
In 2013, there were 38 and 17 independent candidates contesting in state and parliamentary seats respectively. This election sees only 10 independent candidates trying out for state seats and three parliament seats.
Generally, everything went on without a glitch during nomination except in Bukit Melawati where the returning officer rejected PKR candidate Sivamalar Genapathy’s nomination because her MyKad did not bear a Selangor address.
Sivamalar, who is a lawyer, is from Pahang.
Luckily for PKR, the party managed to find a replacement, and Juwairiya Zulkifli filed her nomination papers in the nick of time.
Ironically, Juwairiya was supposed to contest the Bukit Melawati state seat before the PKR leadership named Sivamalar as the candidate.
Asked about the incident, Mat Shuhaimi said he had not been briefed about the matter.
“But we had given her the booklet on guidelines for potential candidates,’’ he added.