PETALING JAYA: Selangor Perikatan Nasional is set to unveil its candidates tonight, with most of them expected to be new faces, says chairman Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
“They will comprise young professionals and highly qualified candidates who will represent voters in Selangor.
“I am confident that those candidates can contribute to the success of Perikatan in the state election,” he said at an event yesterday.
Asked about the ratio of new faces in the candidate lineup, Azmin, who is tipped to contest the Hulu Kelang state seat, said he was not privy to the full details.
“We will announce it tonight; just wait,” he said.
When asked about Perikatan’s chances of winning Selangor, Azmin pointed to the demography of most seats in the state, saying that there are 39 Malay-majority seats out of the 56 state seats.
“We are confident that we will be able to secure between 33 and 35 seats, not only in the Malay-majority seats, but we are also working hard to make inroads in certain non-Malay-majority seats.
“The support on the ground is quite encouraging during our ceramah,” he said.
The Perikatan leadership is also scheduled to announce its candidates for Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan tonight, while the candidates for Kelantan and Terengganu will be unveiled tomorrow.
Sources within the opposition pact claimed that Perikatan would stick to its 15th General Election (GE15) formula, which is to nominate fresh faces who are known to local voters.
According to one insider, although Perikatan is hoping to secure the votes of the youth, it is likely that the political pact will nominate more “senior citizens” in its lineup.
“The formula is simple. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old. What matters is that you’re a professional and a local with a good educational background.
“We do have plenty of young candidates too, but if we’re talking about the ratio, I will say about 30% to 40% are young candidates and the rest is the older generation.
“There will be more ‘senior citizens’ as candidates from Perikatan, but it is not an issue for us because the priority is to place winnable candidates,” the source said when contacted.
Although Perikatan may likely have fewer young candidates, another source pointed out that Perikatan is all set with its GE15 formula, which is fielding first-time candidates.
“Yes, there may be fewer candidates below the age of 50, but there will be a lot of new faces, about 65% to 70%,” the source said.
When asked the reason for the delay in Perikatan announcing its candidates, the source claimed it was due to “dissatisfaction and competitiveness” among Bersatu grassroots members.
The source, however, refused to elaborate further on the matter.
So far, parties within the unity government, namely Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional, as well as Muda, have already announced their respective candidates.
Nomination day for the six state elections is on July 29, while polling day is on Aug 12.
Selangor Gerakan chairman Datuk Ang Chin Tat also said Gerakan will be fielding mostly new faces, especially in Kedah, Penang and Selangor.
“There will be mostly new faces coming out as candidates this time.
“Most of them will be young. Unfortunately, there won’t be many female candidates.
“As a non-racial party under Perikatan, we are filling in most of the non-Malay-majority seats,” he added.
Meanwhile, PKR communications director Lee Chean Chung said the decision to field new faces is a “normal renewal” process.
“It’s a normal renewal within the party so that new faces, young voices, and people from diverse backgrounds are given the opportunity to represent their segment of supporters,” he said when contacted.
Of the 60 PKR candidates announced, 41, or 68%, are fresh faces.
In announcing the candidates on July 21, Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also Umno president, said that only 18% are incumbents, whereas nearly 20% of them consist of those who had contested before but chose to offer themselves again.
Over 60% of Barisan Nasional’s 108 candidates are new faces.
“This is proof that there is continuity between old and new faces,” he said, adding that Barisan’s candidates will consist of many hopeful youth and women.
