Who will battle Azmin's strongman in Gombak Setia?

Gombak Setia is among the three seats still under negotiation between Pakatan Harapan and BN in Selangor, according to sources.

The incumbent for the Gombak Setia seat is Hilman Idham, a strongman of former PKR number two Azmin Ali. Like his mentor, Hilman (above) too has defected to Bersatu.

The seat falls under the Gombak parliamentary constituency which Azmin failed to defend in last November’s general election, falling to Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari.

Over the weekend, Amirudin revealed that Selangor Harapan and BN have yet to reach an agreement on three of the 56 state seats that would be contested in the state elections.

He noted that the ultimate aim is to “have one-on-one fights” instead of Harapan and BN locking horns with each other, which would benefit Perikatan Nasional.

"We are leaving the fate of the three seats to the central leadership," he said, without disclosing the seats.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari

In the 2018 general election, Hilman, who contested under the PKR banner, won the seat with a majority of 12,399 votes. He had defeated Hasbollah Md Ridzwan from PAS, who retained the seat for PAS in the 2013 national polls.

The seat comprises 78 percent of Malay voters, Chinese (11 percent), Indians (nine percent) and others (two percent).

Hilman is now the Selangor PN secretary whereas Azmin, who is a former Selangor menteri besar, heads the coalition’s state chapter.

No seats for MIC, MCA?

Meanwhile, sources told Malaysiakini that another seat in dispute is Sungai Kandis, whose incumbent is Zawawi Ahmad Mughni from PKR.

Zawawi won the seat in a by-election in August 2018 after Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei, who emerged victorious in the national polls in May that year died due to an illness two months later at the age of 50.

Malaysiakini, however, was unable to obtain information regarding the third seat which is in contention.

Selangor PN chief Azmin Ali (left) with Hilman

In a related development, sources disclosed that based on the seat negotiation between Harapan and BN, both MCA and MIC would be left out of the race in Selangor for the first time.

However, this depends on the respective central leaderships of both coalitions, which could overturn the decision.

In the 2018 general election, MCA had contested 14 state seats whereas MIC, three, in Selangor. Both parties were wiped out.

MIC and MCA have been struggling to remain relevant since the 2008 general election, which marked the first devastating blow to the hitherto impregnable fortress BN.

In the 2022 national polls, their “big brother” Umno, also suffered its biggest electoral setback and is struggling to retain its significance among the Malay electorate, who appear to be gravitating towards PAS and Bersatu. - Mkini