KLANG: With 22 Opposition members in the 56-seat house, those named to the Selangor executive council can expect some tough times ahead.
A strong and intelligent team is needed to face the opposition led by Hulu Kelang assemblyman Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, a former mentri besar who will very likely put them through the wringer.
The big question now is: who are the assemblymen from the Pakatan Harapan component parties and Umno that will be given the task of facing off against Perikatan Nasional?
The exco appointments must go beyond political interest to ensure that a strong and accomplished team is in place, said political analyst Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian.
“The exco must be made up of people who are capable and can counter arguments rationally,” he said.
The team must also be able to strengthen Malay support as well as retain the backing of non-Malays.
“The exco line-up must also be able to reflect Malay representation to avoid being accused of not being Malay enough,’’ added Dr Sivamurugan.
Going by the usual quota, six of the 10-member state exco will be Malays.
As for Umno, there isn’t a need to look very far. It only has two elected representatives – Sungai Air Tawar assemblyman Datuk Rizam Ismail and Dusun Tua assemblyman Datuk Johan Abd Aziz.
If selection is made based on seniority and experience, Johan should be the Umno exco candidate given his previous experience as an assemblyman.
That leaves nine seats to be divided among PKR, DAP and Amanah.
Amanah, which won five seats, may get two exco positions, and sources say the party’s Selangor chief Izham Hashim and state vice-chairman Mariam Abdul Rashid, the Meru assemblyman, will fill in the slots.
Izham, who retained his Pandan Indah seat, was also an exco member in the previous government.
As for the DAP, it is learnt that the party asked for four exco seats after winning all 15 seats it contested.
“If we get four seats, our Bandar Utama assemblyman Jamaliah Jamaluddin will become an exco member,’’ said a source.
Jamaliah, he added, will fill the Malay quota, with three others being non-Malays. There will still be one place for PKR to have a non-Malay candidate.
“However, we know that if we have the most number of exco members, the Opposition will cry that Selangor is under DAP’s control,’’ he said.
Another problem faced by Pakatan is the need to have at least two female exco members.
With Mariam on board, perhaps Jamaliah is needed for the female quota. Hence, DAP’s other exco candidates could be Sekinchan assemblyman Ng Suee Lim and Kinrara assemblyman Ng Sze Han.
“However, it’s believed that DAP’s rookie Banting assemblyman V. Papparaidu’s name has also been submitted,’’ said a PKR source.
The catch is that PKR wants the sole Indian exco position because “PKR has more Indian members than DAP”.
PKR’s candidate Gunaraj George is said to be far more experienced and capable of reaching out not only to the B40 community but also to the M40 and T20 Indians.
Gunaraj, 60, said the source, has had a successful career in the insurance industry and has helmed various social organisations for decades.
According to the source, apart from Gunaraj, other names selected by PKR were Port Klang assemblyman Azmizam Zaman Huri, Tanjong Sepat assemblyman Borhan Aman Shah, and Kota Anggerik assemblyman Najwan Halimi.
“These are all second-term assemblymen, as PKR only wants to put up experienced people,’’ he said.
It is also unlikely that PKR will name any of its Chinese assemblymen for an exco position, for fear that the 22 Malay Opposition members will believe that the government is controlled by the Chinese.
Another name that is being bandied about is first-term Seri Setia assemblyman Dr Fahmi Ngah, the former director of the Selangor state government’s think-tank, Selangor Research Institute.
He has a curriculum vitae with an engineering degree as well as a PhD in Aeronautics from London’s prestigious Imperial College.
There is a chance that the trade and industry portfolio will be given to him as Selangor moves towards a high-end industrial platform, with aeronautics being one of the top industries of choice.
There is also talk that he may be appointed as Selangor mentri besar in place of Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
A former PKR elected representative said Fahmi had been among three names submitted to the palace, but only as a formality.
“Under the current circumstances, with Azmin there and 21 others backing him, we need an experienced mentri besar. Amirudin is the only man there,’’ he said.
He said that talk about someone else being appointed as mentri besar was simply a rumour by mischief makers.
