By Danial Dzulkifly and Nurin Iffah
GOMBAK, July 29 — The Hulu Kelang state seat will see a tight race between Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional (BN), with their candidate Juwairiya Zulkifli facing off against Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, a former senior Federal minister and Selangor menteri besar.
Despite the challenges posed by Azmin’s presence, Selangor Harapan chairman and Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Ali is confident in the state’s overall achievements and its well-managed administration, which he believes will contribute to a victory for the Unity Government coalition in Selangor.
“What is most important is the sentiment of the people. We trust they are very happy with the state’s performance. We work hard to meet their demands, so the results will certainly reflect the performance of the state government in the past five years,’’ he told the press after the nomination process for Sungai Tua, Gombak Setia and Hulu Kelang state seats, at SMK Sungai Pusu, earlier today.
Amirudin pointed out that Azmin himself faces a tough fight, as he had lost the Gombak Parliamentary seat during the 15th general election on November 19 last year, by a significant margin of 12,729 votes.
However, he is also cautious, as the trend in the last election indicated Harapan only won by a slim 2,000-vote majority against Azmin in the Hulu Kelang voting district.
Amirudin is similarly confident in Juwairiya’s ability to win the Hulu Kelang seat, emphasising the importance of having a local youth candidate well-versed in its issues.
“Juwairiya is a local in Hulu Kelang, having grown up there. As a local with extensive contacts and experience with the community, she is the ideal candidate to represent them,’’ he said.
On her part, Juwairiya was buoyant at the nomination centre, citing her experience and service to her local community as factors that will contribute to her victory.
Despite her opponent being a former Federal minister, she stressed the need for fair play during the campaigning period and urged for mature politics to be upheld.
“I anticipated a good fight provided we all engage in fair play in the election. We have to practise mature politics,’’ she stressed.
In the Sungai Tua state seat, Amirudin will be involved in a three-corner fight against PN’s Hanif Jamaluddin, and Independent candidate Suman Gopal.
Similarly, in Gombak Setia, BN’s Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin will compete with incumbent Muhammad Hilman Idham from PN and Independent candidate Salim Ali.
