Tough for opposition to wrest Kuala Selangor from BN

PKR says it is supportive of former Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad re-contesting the seat in the coming polls despite the likelihood of a 3-way tussle with PAS and Umno.

PETALING JAYA: At the last general election, PAS candidate Dzulkefly Ahmad failed to defend the Kuala Selangor parliamentary seat which he had won in 2008, losing to Irmohizam Ibrahim of Barisan Nasional (BN) by 460 votes.

Since then, the political landscape in Malaysia has changed greatly.

PAS has severed ties with PKR and DAP, its former allies in Pakatan Rakyat.

In fact, Pakatan Rakyat itself has disintegrated. A rift also developed in Umno, resulting in the formation of PPBM led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Before that, PAS too went through a crisis, when a breakaway group set up Amanah, in which Dzulkefly was a founder member.

Amanah subsequently teamed up with PKR, DAP and PPBM to create Pakatan Harapan (PH), the successor to Pakatan Rakyat and a rival to PAS for the opposition vote.

Will this PH-PAS rivalry hand the advantage to BN in Kuala Selangor in the coming polls?

With so much changes, the hurdle Dzulkefly faces should he try to wrest back the seat is acknowledged by Kuala Selangor PKR.

“We have problems in Kuala Selangor following the PAS-Amanah split. Still, I can see Dzulkefly is working hard,” said Kuala Selangor PKR chief S. Manikavasagam.

Manikavasagam is supportive of Amanah contesting the Kuala Selangor seat in view of the efforts put in by Dzulkefly from the beginning.

Manikavasagam himself stood in 2013 for the Bukit Melawati state seat within Kuala Selangor, but lost narrowly to BN’s Jakiran Jacomah by 806 votes.

Kuala Selangor, which has 62,298 voters based on the 2013 electoral roll, is a semi-urban constituency with Malays in the majority and a significant number of Indian voters.

PAS, which has not ruled out the possibility of contesting for the seat against BN and PH, is also aware it will be an uphill battle.

“A 3-cornered fight will favour us slightly, but we don’t see it as a problem because Umno here also has issues,” said Kuala Selangor PAS Youth leader Ahmad Hakimi Othman to FMT.

Among those being considered as candidates by PAS is Kuala Selangor PAS chief Muhammad Rashid Muhammad Kassim.

Rashid is currently the coordinator of the Jeram state constituency which is held by Amiruddin Setro of BN.

According to Ahmad Hakimi, a reason for Dzulkefly’s defeat in 2013 was the loss of the youth votes in Jeram.

“There were promises made to the youths which Dzulkefly did not fulfil,” he claimed without elaborating.

Ahmad Hakimi also claimed Irmohizam was repeating Dzulkefly’s mistakes, and making visits to only certain areas in the constituency while neglecting the others.

“He (Irmohizam) only visits the villages but not Puncak Alam which is also within the constituency,” he said.

Manikavasagam also criticised Irmohizam for not spending fully the RM1 million annual allocation that each MP received for the benefit of the poor.

“Many things he could have done but I don’t see anything,” he said.

Irmohizam dismissed the allegations against him.

“I am in the constituency almost every day. Many in the constituency are people I have known since childhood and they feel close to me as a local boy,” he told FMT.

Irmohizam said the support for him was growing but he acknowledged that cost of living would be a primary issue in the general election.

Dzulkefly declined to comment when contacted.

The 14th general election is due by August this year. -Mkini