KLANG: The Gombak parliamentary constituency will be the centre of attention during the state election in Selangor, with eyes on the big personalities contesting there.
The three state seats in Gombak are Sungai Tua, Gombak Setia and Hulu Kelang. They will see strong fights between Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional.
Although caretaker Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari will be defending his Sungai Tua seat from two opponents, he will not be the focus in Gombak.
Instead, it is the Hulu Kelang seat that will be the main focus as Amirudin’s political secretary Juwairiya Zulkifli is up against Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, her former boss and mentor.
Amirudin’s unity government colleague Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin of Umno will stand against another Azmin protege, Hilman Idham.
Hilman left PKR to join Bersatu, along with Azmin, following the Sheraton Move in 2020.
Due to the big names contesting the state seats in Gombak, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim knows the importance of ensuring that the unity government parties win the seats, and made his presence felt in the three state constituencies.
Attention-grabbing nominees: Amirudin and Megat Zulkarnain at Dewan SMK Sungai Pusu in Gombak. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
As such, an electrifying atmosphere could be felt at Dewan SMK Sungai Pusu as more people gathered there compared to other nomination centres in Selangor yesterday.
There were quite a number of one-to-one contests now compared to three, four or even five-cornered fights in previous elections.
This is because of the cooperation between Pakatan and Barisan, as well as the partnership between Bersatu and PAS under the Perikatan banner.
Former Kapar Umno chief Datuk Faisal Abdullah believes that crowds are much smaller at nomination centres now because people have come to realise that a big crowd does not necessarily equate to a win.
Another seat to watch in Selangor is Permatang, where former six-term Tanjong Karang MP Tan Sri Noh Omar’s daughter Nurul Syazwani, who is from Bersatu, will go into battle with PKR veteran Mohd Yahya Sahri.
Juwairiya is going up against her former boss and mentor Azmin in Hulu Kelang. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
It will be interesting to see if Noh, who was sacked from Umno, will be able to get his daughter to wrest the seat from PKR.
Both Perikatan and Pakatan have increased the number of Indian candidates in their respective line-ups.
Pakatan has five Indian candidates while Perikatan has six.
This is an indication that the parties realise that the Indian community may be seen as kingmakers in the state elections.
For Pakatan, the move to include Indian candidates may be due the issue of discontent within some segments of the community who have been complaining that nothing much has been done to improve their lives.
As for Perikatan, having six Indian candidates could be a message to the community that if they vote for the Opposition, they will be able to enjoy a bigger representation in the state administration than what Pakatan is offering them.
