VOTERS in northern Selangor should vote for candidates from Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) in this Saturday’s (Aug 12) state elections so that the area does not turn into an “opposition stronghold”, said a PKR leader.
Selangor PKR election director Dr Yaakob Sapari noted that the parliamentary seats in the northern coastal region of the state, namely Tanjong Karang, Sabak Bernam, and Sungai Besar, all fell under the control of Perikatan Nasional (PN) after the 15th General Election (GE15).
He said the same thing cannot be allowed to happen on state level, adding that voters should not allow the opposition to control the state assembly constituencies in that area as it would make it difficult to coordinate development and allocate funds from the state government.
“Surveys and data collected from the ground indicated that the PH-BN coalition was comfortably positioned to form the next state government.
“The MPs there are from PN, so it will be very difficult for us to serve the people in those areas if the opposition also wins the state assembly constituencies there,” he was reported as saying by FMT today (Aug 9).
Yaakob, a former two-term Kota Anggerik assemblyman, pointed out that if constituents elected representatives from the ruling coalition, it would be easier to assist them, adding that he acknowledged that a “fierce battle” was taking place in the state’s northern areas, particularly in constituencies where BN was contesting through UMNO.
According to Yaakob, this was due to the split in UMNO, with one camp supporting PN and the other supporting BN’s cooperation with PH.
“It’s a fierce battle as there is division within the same party. Half of Umno supports PN and the other half is with PH, but we hope that PH-BN candidates can perform well in the area,” he added.
Nevertheless, he stated that the PH-BN machinery was well-coordinated on the ground, which would benefit their candidates.
The six constituencies PH-BN are contesting in northern Selangor are Sungai Air Tawar (BN), Sabak (PH), Sungai Panjang (BN), Sekinchan (PH), Sungai Burong (BN), and Permatang (PH).
In the last Selangor state elections in 2018, then PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali led PH to victory by winning a whopping total of 56 seats, beating BN who only won 4 seats and Gagasan Sejahtera who won only 1 seat. – Aug 9, 2023
Main pic credit: FMT
