KLANG: This Friday (June 23) marks the end of the 14th Selangor Legislative Assembly which would be dissolved to make way for the state polls.
However, there still appears to be a lack of clarity on where the state’s high-profile Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional assemblymen will contest.
It is still a mystery if former mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali will defend his Bukit Antarabangsa seat or move on to another constituency.
“There is talk within the Perikatan grapevine that Mohamed Azmin will contest the Hulu Kelang seat which comes under Gombak.
“The other seat under Gombak is Gombak Setia and Mohamed Azmin’s protégé and aide Hilman Idham will probably defend his incumbency there," said a Perikatan insider.
The insider added many believed Mohamed Azmin will contest in the Gombak division to prove a point that he still mattered there and that losing out to Amirudin was a mere fluke.
“Mohamed Azmin has a lot of support in the Gombak area and contesting and winning the seat there is a message to his detractors that it will not be easy to eject him out of the area even if he had lost the Gombak parliamentary seat," said the source.
He added there was also talk that Mohamed Azmin might contest for either the Sementa or Meru seats that fall under the Kapar parliamentary constituency which PAS managed to grab from PKR in the last general election.
“There is a lot of unsubstantiated talk with some even saying Mohamed Azmin will contest in Morib," said the source adding the truth will only be known when Perikatan leaders release their final name list.
It was also the same in the Pakatan front, especially in PKR, whereby some changes are expected in certain constituencies.
Most importantly, it is not known if Amirudin will defend his Sungai Tua seat or be moved to whichever constituency that Azmin will be vying for.
“Amirudin, is after all, known as the 'Azmin Slayer' amongst certain quarters in the party," said a PKR assemblyman.
According to the elected representative, Ijok’s incumbent PKR assemblyman Dr Idris Ahmad will not be contesting this time around.
“The party leadership has someone in mind but Dr Idris has recommended a village head from the constituency who is very well known amongst the electorate there," said the assemblyman.
The PKR source also said three-term Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong may also not be defending her seat and could be appointed as a senator at a later date.
“There are two candidates whose names are being bandied around for the Bukit Lanjan constituency.
“One is Kuala Langat division’s David Cheong and the other is PKR women chief and Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s aide Loh Ker Chean," said the assemblyman.
He added PKR was also looking for a suitable seat for a second Indian candidate in Selangor given that currently it only had Sentosa assemblyman Gunaraj George.
Meanwhile, Selangor PAS secretary Roslan Shahir said Perikatan Selangor had already decided on the number of seats each component party will get.
“PAS will get 17 seats, Gerakan eight and Bersatu will take 31 seats.
“We are trying to ask for a non-Malay seat to be given to our Pas Supporters Club members," said Roslan.
Following the 14th general election, PKR had 19 seats, DAP 15, Amanah 6, Barisan six, Bersatu four Barti Bangsa Malaysia two and PAS, Warisan and Pejuang one seat each in the 56-seat Selangor Legislative Assembly.
There was also an independent after DAP Teratai assemblyman Bryan Lai resigned from the party due to personal problems.
The Batang Kali seat had also fallen vacant when its assemblyman Selangor Pejuang chief Harumaini Omar was expelled for absenteeism.
