WE WILL RETAIN SELANGOR: PKR to win 19 state, 11 Parliamentary seats - Zuraida

PKR, which a day ago unveiled its candidates list for Selangor, expects to win 19 seats in the state's legislative assembly and 11 parliamentary seats in the May 5 general election.

Selangor is Malaysia richest state and Prime Minister Najib Razak has vowed to wrest back the state government by "all ways and means" from the Pakatan Rakyat led by Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the federal Parliament.

"Based on the projections (from an internal survey), definitely we will retain Selangor," PKR MP for Ampang Zuraida Kamaruddin told a press conference on Monday.

"This is the best-prepared team we have".

2 seats that may not be won

Anwar had at a rousing rally on Sunday night named candidates for 21 state and 11 parliamentary seats (scroll below for the full list). Zuraida, who is also the PKR Women's chief, declined to identify the 2 seats where the party believed its chances were "weaker".

"But 19 state seats are in the pocket," she said.

"It is a mixture of factors, being our own strength, the demography of the constituencies and preference of the people there," said Rafizi Ramli, the PKR strategy director who was also at the presser.

The Selangor state assembly has 56 seats, of which 36 are held by the Pakatan Rakyat. As for federal Parliament, there are 22 seats, of which 140 are held by Najib's Umno-BN coalition.

PSM claims

Two state seats - Semenyih and Kota Damansara - have been claimed by Parti Socialis Malaysia, which while in the Opposition is not a member of the tripartite Pakatan Rakyat coalition of PKR, PAS and DAP.

Anwar, in announcing a candidate Hamidi Hassan for the Semenyih seat last night, had ruffled feathers and the PSM has announced it would hold an emergency meeting tonight.

"PSM is not a member of Pakatan Rakyat. We are friendly parties but it is not easy because PSM does not share our common policies and ideology," said Zuraida.

However, she and Rafizi acknowledged that discussions were ongoing for the Kota Damansara seat

"I think Anwar was very kind not to announce a PKR candidate for Kota Damansara, which he could have. We understand if PSM objects to Semenyih and holds a meeting. They have their process to go through," said Rafizi.

Malaysia Chronicle