Tussle for seats in Hulu Langat not over between Harapan, Umno

 

The dates for Umno and Pakatan Harapan parties to announce their respective candidates in Selangor are drawing closer, but the tussle for certain seats is yet to end.

It was learned that the Dusun Tua and Semenyih seats have become the latest points of contention between the two parties, particularly Umno and DAP. Both seats are under the Hulu Langat parliamentary constituency.

The incumbent for Dusun Tua is DAP's Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof, while Semenyih was won by Harapan via Bersatu's Bakhtiar Mohd Nor in 2018 before Umno wrestled it the next year in a by-election following Bakhtiar's death.

Bersatu later exited Harapan, after which DAP was tasked by the coalition to be the coordinator for Semenyih.

Being a constituency coordinator usually indicates that the assigned party might contest the seat, but according to Umno and Harapan insiders, the situation may have changed after Harapan and BN entered cooperation following last year's general election.

"DAP representative and our machinery took the responsibility to handle the Semenyih office for about a year, from early last year until March 2023.

"After that, Umno’s Semenyih assemblyperson and his team took over. So, our coordinator office in Semenyih has been closed since then," Selangor DAP leader Ong Kian Ming (above) told Malaysiakini.

While Ong did not spell it out, it was understood that the local DAP machinery was hoping to see one of their own contesting for a seat under Hulu Langat.

Besides Semenyih, Malaysiakini learned that DAP might also lose the chance to defend Dusun Tua in the state polls.

An Umno insider close to party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed that the Harapan-BN seat negotiations had come to an agreement to let Umno take the Dusun Tua battle against Perikatan Nasional.

"DAP has agreed to make way for Umno at Dusun Tua so that (Umno supreme council member) Tengku Zafrul (Abdul Aziz) can contest there," said the source.

Several sources within Harapan, including those close to caretaker Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari, also revealed similar information, with some saying that the idea was at least on the table. They, however, refuted the notion that Harapan was giving way specifically for Zafrul.

Malaysiakini had attempted to get official confirmation from those directly involved with the Harapan-Umno seat negotiation at state and federal levels, including DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke and Selangor Umno chief Megat Zulkarnain Omardin, but has yet to receive any response.

‘Hope to defend’

Edry Faizal, meanwhile, admitted to hearing such rumours but declined to comment further except that he leaves it to the party and his hope to defend the seat.

Incumbent for Dusun Tua, DAP's Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof

"Of course, for any incumbents, especially those who have only served one term, it would be good if I get to defend my seat.

"It's not about the position, but after doing the work for five years, an election is the best way for us to see if the rakyat thinks we have done a good job or not.

"But if I don't get to contest again, then it's okay," he said.

However, Ong, who is Selangor DAP treasurer, warned that giving Umno to contest both seats may upset the DAP grassroots.

While the DAP machinery in Hulu Langat is ready to gear up campaigns for any candidate fielded by Harapan and its ally, the party members may lose motivation and enthusiasm.

"We plan to help campaign for candidates from any of the Harapan component parties and Umno in Hulu Langat, including in Semenyih.

"But if the DAP seat in Dusun Tua is taken away and we do not have any seats in Hulu Langat, I believe it will make the DAP machinery in Hulu Langat less motivated.

"I hope the Umno leaders in Hulu Langat can understand the sentiment of DAP machinery if this happens and not blame us," he said.

There are 56 state seats in Selangor, of which 40 are being held by Harapan parties and five by Umno.

Nine seats are held by Perikatan Nasional parties, one by Warisan, while one is vacant after Teratai assemblyperson Harumaini Omar from Pejuang failed to attend the Selangor state assembly meeting for more than six months.

It was recently revealed by Umno supreme council member Ahmad Maslan that Umno will contest 12 seats in Selangor, which means that Harapan will battle the other 44.

Semenyih is a Malay-majority seat with over 75 percent, and used to be a traditional seat for Umno until it was defeated by Bersatu's Bakhtiar in 2018.

However, Bakhtiar's death in January 2019 forced a by-election and saw Umno's Zakaria Hanafi wresting the seat back with a slim majority of 1,914 votes.

Dusun Tua is also a Malay-majority seat but with a lesser composition of about 63 percent Malay voters, followed by Chinese (28 percent), Indian (seven percent) and others (two percent).

It used to be Umno's traditional seat up until 2013 when PAS' Razaly Hassan won in the 13th general election, defeating the then-incumbent Ismail Sani.

Razaly was in turn defeated by Edry Faizal in the 2018 general election with a majority of 10,422 votes. - Mkini