GE15: Fierce battle between heavyweights

SHAH ALAM - Within a week after the Election Commission (EC) announced the date for the 15th General Election (GE15), political parties across the country are seen actively announcing their respective candidates.

For the record, all political parties have been given 16 days to finalise not only the distribution of seats, but also to identify the areas they believed they will be able to win before Nov 5.

Of course, the most captivating seats will be contested by heavyweight candidates, especially the top leadership of their respective parties.

The earliest to announce candidacy was Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who will be contesting in the Tambun Parliament.

Therefore, Anwar will be going against the seat's incumbent Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu.

Since it was first established in 1986, Tambun has been a Malay majority area that has traditionally been controlled by Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN), before falling into the hands of Bersatu which at the time contested under the PH coalition in GE14.

In GE14, Ahmad Faizal who contested under PKR's ticket won the Tambun parliamentary seat with 38,661 votes.

He defeated Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah from BN and Pas candidate Muhamad Zulkifli Mohamad Zakaria.

Meanwhile, several parliamentary seats were expected to see heavyweight candidates from different parties competing with each other for the seats such as Gombak which involving PN information chief Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

The incumbent Gombak MP who held the seat for three terms since 2008, will most likely face Selangor Menteri Besar and PKR vice-president Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

This became clearer when Anwar on Wednesday, hinted that PKR will field its "Panglima Selangor", referring to Amirudin to compete in the seat.

For the record, Mohamed Azmin was the person who led the movement which saw a total of 10 PKR MPs leave the party (PKR), thus overthrowing the PH government.

Also stealing the spotlight was the competition in the Titiwangsa Parliament which will see the clash between three main party leaders from Amanah, BN and Bersatu.

It is expected to involve Amanah communications director Khalid Abdul Samad, Federal Territories Umno Liaison Committee chairman Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani and Bersatu youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal.

Amanah under the PH coalition officially announced that Khalid, who was Shah Alam MP for four terms since 2004, would contest the seat in GE15, while Johari expressed his willingness to reclaim the area.

In GE14, Johari lost to the Bersatu candidate who contested on the PH ticket, Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun with a majority of 4,139 votes.

It is understood that Rina, who is also the Bersatu Srikandi (women's wing) chief, will contest in the Sepang Parliament.

PKR was about to field its former president and advisor Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in the Bandar Tun Razak Parliament.

Dr Wan Azizah, who is also the former deputy prime minister, was seen starting to greet the residents in the area since Thursday.