PETALING JAYA: The decision to field PKR's Juwairiya Zulkifli as Pakatan Harapan's candidate in Hulu Kelang for the Aug 12 state polls instead of Amanah's Anfaal Saari was a last-miniute one.
When contacted on Sunday (July 23), Anfaal said the decision to field Juwairiya was a last-minute decision by top Pakatan leadership.
"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim requested Amanah president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu to swap the Hulu Kelang seat with Batu Tiga.
"The reason given was that PKR wanted to field a heavyweight to contest against Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, the likely Perikatan Nasional candidate.
"I was only informed about the matter on Saturday evening," said Anfaal, who is also Gombak Amanah women's chief.
Anfaal, who is the daughter of incumbent Hulu Kelang assemblyman Saari Sungib, was widely touted as the Pakatan candidate for the seat.
On Saturday (July 22), Anwar announced that PKR would contest 20 seats in Selangor in the upcoming state polls.
Juwairiya, who is also Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari's political secretary, is the incumbent Bukit Melawati assemblyman.
Batu Tiga is a state constituency in Shah Alam and has been held by incumbent PKR's Rodziah Ismail, who is also Ampang MP, since the 12th General Election (GE12).
It is unclear who will be Amanah's candidate in Batu Tiga.
Hulu Kelang Amanah media centre director Syazmir Hariz Noorazalan said the Hulu Kelang-Batu Tiga swap was decided on Saturday morning.
"However, Amanah will continue to lend its support to campaign for the chosen Pakatan candidate in Hulu Kelang," he added.
Saari has held the Hulu Kelang seat for three consecutive terms, after winning it for the first time in GE12 on a PAS ticket.
In GE13, he defended the seat with a 2,881-vote majority in a straight fight against Barisan.
He won it again in GE14, but this time on an Amanah ticket.
