Umno supreme council member Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz was likely dropped as a candidate for the Selangor state election due to his rising popularity, according to Selangor DAP treasurer Ong Kian Ming.
Speaking at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute webinar today on the state polls in his capacity as the institute's fellow, Ong speculated that Zafrul, a former top banker with strong royal ties, was a threat to some Umno leaders aspiring to climb up the ranks.
"Zafrul enjoys popularity at the national and state level. He performed decently during the Covid-19 period. He would be an asset not only to Umno but also Pakatan Harapan.
"As discussed by (former Umno Youth chief) Khairy Jamaluddin and (former BN information chief) Shahril Hamdan in their podcast, they said Zafrul might have been blocked by the state Umno chief Megat (Zulkarnain Omardin) because Megat Zulkarnain doesn't want a situation where Zafrul gets a seat and will become more senior than the former.
"(Umno president Ahmad) Zahid (Hamidi) too didn't want to push for Zafrul, so this also shows the kind of challenges in Umno.
"Zafrul is quite popular among the public, so Zahid may be worried that Zafrul may get ahead and become more prominent in Umno," Ong said.
Ong (above, left) was speaking on the topic titled 'Hearts versus minds in the struggle for Selangor". He was accompanied by Marzuki Mohamad, in his capacity as associate professor at International Islamic University Malaysia. Marzuki was formerly a private secretary to then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Ong told the forum that Harapan chairperson and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim could have lobbied for Zafrul, but this, too, did not materialise.
He believed this may be due to Anwar not wanting to face further issues when it comes to nominating a menteri besar candidate for Selangor should Harapan-BN win the state election on Aug 12.
"Maybe, Anwar himself is afraid that if Zafrul wins (a seat in Selangor), he is seen as a favourable menteri besar candidate by the palace and this will create trouble for him," Ong said.
Zafrul was previously touted as a potential Selangor menteri besar candidate from Umno.
However, despite being rumoured that he might be fielded in either Sungai Kandis or Dusun Tua state seats, Zafrul's name was not among the candidates announced by Zahid last week.
Meanwhile, on a related issue, Ong was also critical of the line-up of DAP candidates for Selangor that was announced by the party leadership yesterday.
According to the former Bangi MP, the list lacks Malay candidates and this is a "blow" to DAP, especially after its Dusun Tua seat - which was held by a Malay DAP representative - was ceded to Umno.
"In the line-up announced yesterday, we now have only one Malay candidate out of 15, which is Jamaliah Jamaluddin for Bandar Utama, which is a Chinese majority state seat.
"This is definitely a blow to DAP. We want more diversity, more Malay candidates."
On the Dusun Tua seat issue, Ong claimed that the decision to surrender it to Umno was made by Anwar after a discussion with DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke.
The two top Harapan leaders have agreed to a certain concession to DAP for giving up the seat, according to Ong, including assurance that the party will get the position of Selangor state assembly speaker if they win the state. - Mkini
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