Jitters all round in Selangor
Opposition and Barisan remain cautious ahead of big day
KLANG: Candidates from the various political factions in Selangor are jittery over what may be in store for them today.
A Pakatan Harapan candidate in Klang said at least 85% of the electorate must come out and vote for the Opposition to be guaranteed a win in the state.
“Anything lower than 85% can spell trouble for us,” said the candidate, who declined to be named.
Political analyst Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said there may be issues revolving around marginal seats.
“These can easily swing in any direction. Fence sitters too have increased tremendously and their votes can also swing in any direction,’’ he said, adding that at the end of the day, it is the fence sitters who determine which candidate wins.
Dr Sivamurugan said younger voters tended to vote not for parties but individuals who promote issues in which they are interested.
“Of course, internal sabotage could also be a factor to determine which candidate wins,” he said.
The DAP’s grey state seats are Sungai Pelek (Ronnie Liu), Kuala Kubu Baru (Lee Kee Hiong), Sekinchan (Ng Suee Lim) – all marginally won in the last election – and Dusun Tua, a new seat for the party which is fielding Edry Faisal Yusof there.
Sekinchan and Kuala Kubu Baru were under the Sungai Besar and Hulu Selangor parliamentary constituencies, which were Barisan strongholds.
“Two polling centres have been moved from the Batang Kali state constituency to Kuala Kubu Baru under the redelineation exercise and this will help us get it back,’’ Selangor Barisan deputy chief Datuk Mat Nadzari Ahmad Dahlan said in a recent interview.
As for PKR and Amanah in Selangor, every constituency with strong PAS machinery as well as a big Malay majority is seen as a problem.
Given this, the Gombak Setia state seat contested by Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali’s special assistant Hilman Idham is seen as a difficult seat for PKR to win.
Other problematic seats for Pakatan are the Sungai Kandis (Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei) and Port Klang (Azmizam Zaman Huri) state seats, as well as the Kapar parliamentary seat (Datuk Abdullah Sani) because of the increase in Malay voters.
PAS’ Dr Abdul Rani Osman is expected to win the Kapar seat but Barisan’s Datuk Mohana Muniandy is also expected to come in neck and neck with the Islamist party candidate.
Dr Abdul Rani, the former Meru assemblyman, is well known and liked in the constituency, more so because he is a general practitioner with a clinic there.
As for Barisan, a source close to the party says the most difficult seat is probably Sabak Bernam, as there are factions among Umno members there.
“The factions took shape after former Sabak assemblyman Datuk Warno Dogol was not selected for this election,” said the source.
Warno won the Sabak seat in 2008 but was dropped in 2013, although he was expected to be selected this year.
When he was not, the disgruntled Warno left Umno and joined Pribumi with his supporters and is now its candidate for the Sabak Bernam parliamentary seat.
Umno is also cautious and on the lookout for signs of internal sabotage in Batang Kali (Mat Nadzari) and Jeram (Zahar Azlan Ariffin).
Apparently, there is a split in Batang Kali as it was initially thought that Umno would get the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat from MIC and Mat Nadzari would be its candidate there.
However, when Hulu Selangor remained with MIC, Mat Nadzari was retained in Batang Kali and this angered the Umno member who had been eyeing the seat, the source added.
In Jeram, Datuk Amiruddin Setro’s supporters are said to have become disgruntled after he became the only Umno incumbent to be dropped.
As for PAS, its state election director Roslan Shahir said any seats with a big non-Malay majority will be difficult.
“So we are expecting problems with the Taman Templer (Zaidy Abdul Talib) and Pandan Indah (Datuk Iskandar Samad) state seats.
“But because both candidates were Selangor executive councillors, there is hope of retaining the seats,” he added.