Once friends, now foes: PAS to battle DAP in Selangor

INTERVIEW | Traditionally, DAP's main rivals in Selangor are MCA, MIC and Gerakan.

For the polls this time around, however, and quite possibly for the first time, they will have to face PAS as well.

In a recent interview with Malaysiakini, Selangor PAS elections director Roslan Shahir Mohd Shahir (above) revealed that PAS will take on DAP incumbents for the Sekinchan, Kuala Kubu Baru, Teluk Datuk and Sungai Pelek state seats in the 14th general election.

All four seats are semi-rural constituencies with Chinese majorities but with a Malay voter base of between 30 to 40 percent.

In 2013, DAP won all 15 Selangor state seats it contested, which Roslan said was won largely due to PAS' ability to convince Malay voters to back DAP, especially for the above four seats.

He cited the example of Teluk Datuk, which borders the Sijangkang and Morib state constituencies, both represented by PAS currently.

"I am confident that even DAP would agree they won this seat partly because of our past support," he said.

He said DAP also faced candidate problems in Teluk Datuk as its incumbent assemblyperson Loh Chee Heng was sacked by DAP in 2016 after he was found guilty of misusing state funds allocated to his constituency.

Loh is now an independent assemblyperson.

As for Sekinchan, Roslan pointed out the constituency was also surrounded by Malay majority areas and DAP had won it with help from PAS.

Win two seats aim

He said PAS would field a Malay candidate, one who had greatly helped Sekinchan incumbent assemblyman Ng Suee Lim to win in last general election.

"This Malay candidate is very well-known to Sekinchan locals and holds one of the top five posts in the Sekinchan PAS division.

“He gave a lot of help to Ng Suee Lim in the last general election. I am sure Ng knows who he is," said Roslan.

Ng is now three-term assemblyperson for Sekinchan, winning the seat in 2004, 2008 and 2013.

DAP lost both the Sungai Pelek and Kuala Kubu Bahru seats to MCA in 2004 and 2008 but managed to win them in the 2013 general election.

Roslan believed that of the four, Sungai Pelek and Kuala Kubu Baru were PAS' best bets because DAP was still not entrenched in these areas.

"Of the four seats, we believe that we can win at least two, Sungai Pelek and Kuala Kubu Baru.

"These were new seats for the DAP in 2013 and we believe they won them due to help from PAS," he said.

PAS intends to contest 43 of the 56 Selangor state seats available, setting itself on a collision course with former allies DAP and PKR.

PKR owes us, too

Although the exact number of PKR-PAS clashes cannot be ascertained at the moment as Selangor Pakatan Harapan's seat allocation is still in unresolved, Roslan revealed that some definite clashes are on the cards mostly involving mix-ethnicity constituencies.

There will be some areas where PAS will have an edge such as Sementa and Batu Tiga, said Roslan, because PAS has experience in fielding candidates there before.

"When we were 'friends' with PKR, we gave them our seats. In 2008, we gave them Sementa but their candidate did not show up and Umno won uncontested.

"In Batu Tiga in the 2004 elections, it was contested by PAS Dewan Ulama chief Mahfodz Mohamed but we gave it to PKR in 2008," he said.

As for Bersatu, Roslan said PAS doesn't see them as a major threat because their members and supporters were disaffected Umno members who would likely chip away at BN's share of the votes instead of PAS'.

"As election director, I have gone to the ground in areas like Sabak Bernam and Sepang and they do not have a strong machinery," he said.

Bersatu has been tasked with contesting seats held by Umno or PAS, although the exact number is still uncertain. -Mkini