Selangor Harapan banking on state govt's track record to win over voters

The Selangor Pakatan Harapan machinery will fully use the period leading up to the state election to spread the word to voters and people about the successes achieved throughout the term of the pact’s administration in the state.

Selangor Harapan election director Mohd Yahya Mat Sahri said all the achievements recorded by the state government will be used as campaign material in the state polls to garner the support of the Selangor people.

"It's no use campaigning with accusations, it will be counter productive. It's better to focus on what we've already done and what we're going to do. I think people in Selangor will be more accepting of that," he told Bernama.

Yahya said Harapan's ability to govern Selangor was proven after successfully contributing more than a quarter of the national economy or 25.5 percent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth last year.

"It's not data released on a whim, it's been proven, it's a fact. We show much better performance, that's why with our initiatives (Selangor Harapan's) right from the beginning we really prioritise the economy and always put the people first," he said.

Commenting on Harapan's cooperation with BN, he said both coalitions have agreed to move to achieve the same goal of winning the election.

"At the Harapan and BN level, after the central and state leaders reached an agreement to work together, we continue to build a community.

“Alhamdulilah we are okay and no issues arose, like today we discussed about the election, in less than 20 minutes we were able to reach a consensus," he said.

On the people's confidence in the alliance, he believes voters in Selangor are very open.

Even at the Election Committee level, Harapan aims to capture 51 of the 56 State Assembly seats at stake, he said.

Selangor, which has 3,747,057 voters, will hold its state election simultaneously with five other states, namely Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, on August 12.

In the 14th General Election (GE14), Harapan dominated Selangor by winning 51 seats, followed by BN and PAS with four and one seat, respectively.

Before the state assembly was dissolved, Harapan had 40 seats (PKR-19, DAP-15, Amanah-six), BN (five), Bersatu (four), and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) (two).

In contrast, PAS, Pejuang and Warisan had one seat each, with one independent assemblyperson.

Another seat, the Batang Kali, was declared vacant after its assemblyperson did not attend State Assembly sittings for more than six months.

Bersatu had teamed up with Harapan in GE14 but later pulled out, and the change in numbers was due to party hopping by assemblypersons.

- Bernama