SPECULATIONS are rife that chief coordinator for the Dengkil state constituency Datuk Romli Ishak will be the next Menteri Besar of Selangor.
Prior to moving to Dengkil, the former political secretary of Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail during her stint as Deputy Prime Minister in 2018 was seconded to Menteri Besar Incorporated Negeri Sembilan.
A source, on the condition of anonymity told FocusM that Romli is a likely candidate because of his affiliation with both Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Dr Wan Azizah.
An elected a member of the Central Leadership Council Members of PKR, Romli is what a present cabinet minister claims to be among the “many potentials that we can tap on”.
However, the minister would prefer to remain tight-lipped on whether Romli is going to be the one picked to lead the coming state election.
If confirmed that Romli is slated to become the next MB of the richest state in the country, he will most likely contest for the Dengkil state assembly against incumbent Bersatu Armada (Youth) chief, Adhif Syan Abdullah who wrestled the seat from Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Shahrum Mohd Sharif in 2018.
Back then, Adhif had contested under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) banner for the constituency that comes under the the Sepang parliamentary constituency. The next state election which will be held across six states (Selangor, Penang, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu is scheduled before July/August this year.
Earlier, entrepreneur, consultant, academic and researcher Murray Hunter had written that the present Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shaari may be dumped due to two infrastructure projects that were approved without transparent public tenders with both involving land swaps.
Hunter, however, stopped short of naming the candidate as he claimed he is aware that “power brokers in the back rooms of the coalition are actively looking for a potential replacement of Amirudin (who is also the Gombak MP)”.
During his administration, complaints on the ground were also not being managed well. A report to the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had been lodged against Amirudin since last year by former OTAI Reformis secretary Razak Ismail who is now the prime mover of the Green Party.
There are no indications whether the Green Party is expected to contest in the Selangor state election as it has not been officially registered.
If indeed Romli is chosen to be Amirudin’s successor, he will be the fourth Selangor MB since PH took over Selangor from Barisan Nasional (BN) in 2008. – May 1, 2023
