Three or more cornered contests advantageous to Selangor BN
By Fadzillah Aishah Ismail
SHAH ALAM, April 28 (Bernama) -- The three or more cornered fights in all 22 parliamentary seats and 52 of the 56 state seats in Selangor in the 14th general election (GE14), give an indication that Barisan Nasional (BN) has hope of recapturing the state from the opposition pact or at least increase the number of seats.
The Selangor BN had earlier expressed confidence that the party could win another five parliamentary seats as well as capture at least 30 state seats as compared to 12 seats won in GE13.
Looking back at the GE13 results, the constituencies which witnessed three or more cornered contests such as Kota Damansara and Semenyih state constituencies proved advantageous to the BN candidates.
In GE14, only four state constituencies namely Seri Kembangan, Kampung Tunku, Bukit Lanjan and Bandar Baru Klang will see straight fights between BN and Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidates who will be contesting under the PKR logo.
Apart from that, the strength of component parties in PH, especially PPBM is still doubtful and this will work in BN's favour especially with PPBM candidates fielded in four state seats namely Jeram, Kuang, Semenyih and Sijangkang as well as Sabak Bernam and Sungai Besar parliamentary seats, as announced today.
As in GE13, the Tanjong Karang parliamentary seat will remain as BN's stronghold as incumbent Tan Sri Noh Omar, who is also Selangor BN chairman, is not expecting any difficulty in defending the seat for the sixth term, when facing PPBM candidate Captain (R) Datuk Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi and Nor Az Azlan Ahmad of PAS.
The Sungai Burong and Permatang state constituencies within the Tanjong Karang parliamentary too have a great chance of being retained by the BN as both incumbents, Datuk Mohd Samsudin Lias (Sungai Burong) and Datuk Sulaiman Abdul Razak (Permatang) had been going to the ground and are well-liked by voters in the respective areas.
Amanah president Mohamad Sabu or better known as Mat Sabu is eyeing the Kota Raja parliamentary seat this GE14 after having been defeated for three consecutive general elections, the last being the Pendang parliamentary seat in GE13.
Mat Sabu will face BN's MIC candidate V. Gunalan and Mohamed Diah Baharun from PAS.
Many are with the view that the decision to field Mat Sabu in Kota Raja was because the seat is considered safe for Amanah, following former MP, Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud's big win in GE13.
Dr Siti Mariah meanwhile has been forced to sacrifice by contesting in the Seri Serdang state seat this general election.
In this GE14 it will be interesting to see the tussle between two estranged siblings namely Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and celebrity Mohamed Azwan Ali as they contest for the Bukit Antarabangsa state seat.
Although Mohamed Azmin appeared unaffected by his younger brother's decision to challenge him in the election, the appearance of Azwan who is known for his acid-tongue, should not be taken lightly as to some extend, he is capable of tarnishing the image of the PKR deputy president.
Meanwhile PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will face a five-cornered fight with BN, PAS, Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and an independent candidate in the contest for Pandan parliamentary seat which was previously won by the party's vice-president, Mohd Rafizi Ramli.
With a total of 2,415,074 registered voters, Selangor has the highest number of voters qualified to cast their votes in the GE14 on May 9.
Of the total 2,388,614 are regular electors, early voters comprising military personnel and their spouses (25,462); and absentee voters who are overseas (998).
-- BERNAMA
