PAKATAN Harapan’s (PH) decision to retain Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari as the Selangor menteri besar should the coalition win in the Aug 12 state election has been hailed as a good move by political analysts.
Akademi Nusantara’s Prof Dr Azmi Hassan stated that naming Amirudin as PH’s poster boy for Selangor would benefit the coalition as the PKR vice president had performed well as the menteri besar.
“For the past five years, Selangor voters have been quite satisfied and are quite happy with Amirudin,” news portal Free Malaysia Today quoted him as saying.
Comparing him to his predecessor Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, analysts are of the opinion that Amirudin would attract more voters and increase PH’s chances of retaining the state.
He predicted that Azmin would lose in the state election, just as he had lost in the parliamentary election.
“It has been quite some time since Azmin was the Selangor menteri besar. Amirudin is much more recent, and people have a tendency to remember the most recent menteri besar,” he added.
Moreover, James Chin of the University of Tasmania also agreed that Amirudin is likely the preferred candidate among Selangor residents, adding that replacing the PKR man could decrease PH’s chances of retaining the state.
“I think the general consensus among people from Selangor is that Amirudin has done a fairly good job. He has not made any major mistakes. And I don’t think (PH chairman) Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has any real reason to remove him as well,” he noted.
On Tuesday (July 18), Anwar announced that Amirudin would remain as the menteri besar if PH retained Selangor next month.
Anwar cited the state’s strong track record of attracting investments under Amirudin’s leadership. – July 19, 2023
Main photo credit: The Star
