AN AZMIN DEFECTION SOON? BRACE FOR IT: SENIOR UMNO LEADER OPENLY SAYS PREFERS AZMIN TO NOH OMAR AS SELANGOR MB ‘BUT HE IS IN THE WRONG PARTY’

The battle for Selangor will be one of the major campaigns in the upcoming 14th general election.

At the forefront of the campaign are Selangor menteri besar Mohamed Azmin Ali and his BN rival, the coalition’s state chief Noh Omar.

For former Selangor menteri besar Abu Hassan Omar, both Azmin and Noh are good leaders.

But the Umno veteran appeared to think more highly of Azmin when asked to evaluate both men.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Abu Hassan said Umno needs politicians like Azmin, adding that the PKR deputy president was in “the wrong party” and should switch sides.

“This is my frank opinion, we need a leader like him. As menteri besar, he is well liked. In his area (constituency), he is strong.

“I’ve known him since he was young, but the thing is (he is in) the wrong party,” Abu Hassan said in an interview on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Selangor former elected representatives council (Mubarak) office in Shah Alam, the former menteri besar also said Azmin was a bright and good politician.

However, he said Azmin faced certain “constraints”.

“As far as I am concerned, Azmin can be a good leader, the only thing is we know who controls the state government, it is not Azmin, it is not PKR,” he said.

The Selangor Mubarak chairperson declined to elaborate on who he thinks the real behind the state government was.

As for Noh, the former Permatang assemblyperson said that the Umno minister was an experienced and qualified leader who should be given a chance to lead the state.

 But, Abu Hassan said that even though Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has indicated that he has big plans for Noh, the Tanjong Karang MP needed to show courage.

“Noh has to be brave in deciding whether (he wants) to lead Selangor in the next election, or (otherwise). It is up to him to decide his future,” he said.

“He has to decide what is needed for BN’s future. We need an established leader,” he added.

Abu Hassan said Mubarak was also fully behind Noh, although Selangor BN does have a list of potential MB candidates should Noh choose to remain at the federal level.

MKINI