In Selangor, incumbent state government touts achievements as opposition confident of courting Malay vote

PN CONFIDENT OF COURTING THE MALAY VOTE 

PN, for its part, will be led by former Selangor chief minister and Bersatu supreme council member Azmin Ali for the upcoming state elections. 

The coalition – which is made up of Bersatu, Islamist party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) – has been going on the offensive, saying that they are confident of winning 33 seats, all of which are Malay-majority ones, in the election.  

There are 56 seats in the Selangor state assembly. Of these, 41 were held by PH, seven by PN, five from BN and three by Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang). 

PN has said that it would have won 14 seats had the state elections been held in November last year concurrent with the general elections. 

The GE15 last year saw PN powered by a “green wave” to win six out of 22 federal seats in Selangor – Sabak Bernam, Sungai Besar, Hulu Selangor, Tanjong Karang, Kapar, and Kuala Langat.

The remaining 16 parliamentary seats in Selangor were won by PH while BN did not win any.

Bersatu information chief Razali Idris told CNA that they were confident of doing well in Selangor following their win in the six parliamentary seats.

He expected that the votes from the Malay population would increase following UMNO’s decision to cooperate with PH and form the unity government as well as the sacking of leaders such as Mr Khairy Jamaluddin. 

“From our analysis of the voting patterns, the votes of the Malays are with PN. UMNO had promised not to work with DAP, but they reneged on this. We expect more Malays to support PN because of this,” he said. 

Former Umno supreme council member Noh Omar, who was expelled from the party, claimed that PH had always been winning because there was a split in Malay votes caused by three-cornered fights.  

Now advocating for PN, the former Tanjong Karang Member of Parliament and former minister said that the straight fights between PN and PH-BN will benefit them.

“I am confident that PN will win Selangor in the election … If the Malays are united, we can win 33 seats,” he said at a PN event in Sungai Besar on Jun 2.  

A simple majority of 29 seats is needed by any coalition to rule the state.

“Selangor is very important because if it falls, it is a big sign to the federal government who will feel shaky because it doesn’t have an anchor state to hold on to. Selangor is very important and it will be a tough fight,” said Mr Razali of Bersatu.