After Morib, Azmin Ali eyes Hulu Kelang state seat?
KHAIRIL ANWAR MOHD AMIN
SHAH ALAM - After being linked to speculation that he would contest the Morib state seat, incumbent Selangor Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Datuk Seri Azmin Ali is reportedly eyeing the Hulu Kelang seat for the upcoming Selangor election.
According to sources within PN, Azmin will not seek re-election in the Bukit Antarabangsa state seat which he has held for the past 15 years following his defeat in defending the Gombak Parliamentary seat in the 15th general election (GE15).
According to the source, there is a preliminary plan for the former economy minister to be given Morib seat which was previously contested by Pas.
The seat is currently held by Pakatan Harapan’s Morib assemblyman Hasnul Baharuddin.
However, according to the source, Hulu Kelang is considered more suitable for the former Selangor Menteri Besar to contest in as he is a local and actively engages with constituents.
"Yes, previously, there were rumours that Azmin would run for Morib seat but it was considered unsuitable for him because it was located far from Gombak Parliament, in addition to the relatively high percentage of non-Malay voters here.
"There is indeed a high possibility that Azmin will contest for Hulu Kelang seat because he is from there and the area is closer to Gombak Parliament and Bukit Antarabangsa state seat that he once held," the source told Sinar Premium.
However, the final decision would depend on party leaders, the source added.
The success of PH's Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari capturing Gombak with a majority of almost 13,000 votes gives a clear sign that the voters had rejected the decision of the former PKR deputy president to leave PH and join Bersatu.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Bersatu head of information Datuk Razali Idris said the party is yet to finalise any decision on the distribution of election seats with its PN coalition partners as well as the list of candidates in the six-state election.
He said that Bersatu grassroots also hoped that the party's one leader, one election seat system agenda will be honoured by the party in the upcoming six-state election to ensure that each party leader is only allowed to hold one of the parliamentary or state seats, not both.
"For sure, we still expect the one leader, one electoral seat system to be practised by Bersatu. This means that if a leader already holds a parliamentary seat, no state assembly seat will be given to him.
"This is because we want more young and potential future leaders among Bersatu youths to be given the opportunity to represent the party," he said.
In the meantime, Bersatu Selangor chairman Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari said his team has submitted a list of candidates from the party to party leaders at the central level to be considered.
He declined to comment on Azmin's future in the upcoming state elections.
