Amanah will contest in Sungai Besar, Kuala Kangsar

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) has decided in principle that Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) it will contest both the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar parliamentary by-elections.
This is despite the opposition coalition not having held its presidential council meeting to decide on its candidates for the two by-elections, to be held on June 18, Oriental Daily News reported today.
It is learnt that four names have been mentioned for Sungai Besar, ie Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, deputy president Salahuddin Ayub, Selangor chief Izham Hashim and strategic director Dzulkefly Ahmad.
However, the party is unable to decide who among the short-listed candidates should be fielded; some said Mohamad Sabu should stand while others deem Salehuddin as a more suitable candidate.
As for the Kuala Kangsar constituency, the party has shortlisted three candidates — former mentri besar-cum-Changkat Jering assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, Salahuddin, and a retired lecturer.
An Amanah source said Nizar would be fielded barring any last-minute changes.
PH is to meet tomorrow to make a final decision on its candidates for the two by-elections.
The source said those opposed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak's leadership will use the "Save Malaysia" movement as a platform to help campaign for the PH candidates.
On paper, PH is the underdog in both the by-elections but some analysts opined that with a few factors having a bearing on the polls outcome, the coalition can stage an upset if it uses the correct strategies.
Political analyst and International Islamic University Malaysia lecturer Dr Maszlee Malik told Oriental Daily that if PH fields a well known woman candidate in Sungai Besar, it will win more women's votes and enhance its chances of a victory.
Barisan Nasional (BN) is to field Sungai Panjang assemblyman Budiman Mohd Zohdi and PAS will be represented by Meru assemblyman Abdul Rani Osman.
Maszlee pointed out that 65% of Sungai Besar's 12,200 voters are women, which was the main reason why BN's Datuk Noriah Kasnon won in the last general election.
He said if PH can win over 2,500 votes from BN, it has a good chance of emerging as the victor.
"It can be sure that the non-Muslim voters from Sekinchan (one of the state seats under Sungai Besar) will not vote for PAS or BN because of the hudud issue, giving PH the advantage."
As for Kuala Kangsar, he said PH should field a high-calibre candidate "to focus the voters attention on 1MDB, GST, RM2.6 billion donation and inflation".