PAS will contest 47 Selangor seats

SHAH ALAM: In its bid to take over the administration of Selangor, PAS has confirmed that it will contest in 47 state seats out of the total 56 seats available in the state for the upcoming 14th General Election (GE14).
PAS would also field its candidates on all except for two of the 22 parliament seats available in Selangor. The two parliament seats it was not contesting were Damansara and Subang.
Three of the party's candidates would consist of non-Muslims from the PAS supporters congress, Selangor PAS commissioner Sallehen Muhkyi said in making the announcement at Perkim Village here.
The rest of the state and parliament seats not contested by the Islamist party would be distributed among parties of Gagasan Sejahtera, a "third force" loose coalition consisting of PAS and three other parties — Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan), Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (Berjasa) and Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM).
PAS vice-president Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad earlier in his speech said PAS would no longer be regarded as the kingmaker in GE14 but instead would become the "king" in Malaysia's political scene following its ambitious target to contest in more than 160 parliament seats — the biggest number ever contested by any single political party in the country.
"We are not the kingmaker if we contest in 160 (parliament) seats. If 160 seats, we are the one that will become the king," he said.
"The same goes to Selangor. I do not want to hear talks on (PAS being a) kingmaker anymore. PAS, along with our friends, would emerge as the king," he added.
Iskandar said it would be a do or die situation for PAS to rule Selangor in order for the party to quash the allegations that the party only targeted the Malay belt regions, predominantly in the north and the east coast.
"By being able to lead Selangor, it will show that PAS is not only a party for the Malay and Muslims, but it can also lead the people of Malaysia," he added.
PAS candidate line-up in Selangor would consist of around 70% from the professional groups while only 30% from those with religious graduates or ulama.
The party would also introduce nine women candidates to contest in the state, a decision Sallehen describe as a proof that the party did not discriminate against women.
Among the hot seats that PAS would be contesting was the Kota Raja parliament seat, where Mohamed Diah Baharun was named as its candidate.
Mohamed Diah was expected to face Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu — a splinter party from PAS.
Meanwhile, PAS youth vice-chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin was named candidate for the Gombak parliament constituency, a seat currently being held by Selangor Mentri Besar and PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
Two of the non-Muslims candidates fielded by PAS were Kong Tuck Wah and M. Rajan, where they would contest in Rawang and Sentosa state seats respectively.
PAS, along with its former partners DAP and PKR, formed the government in Selangor after winning the state in GE13 with a bigger majority under the now defunct opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat.
Following disagreement with DAP, PAS decided to leave the coalition in 2015, but remained to be part of the Selangor government until the dissolution of the state legislative assembly.
The party is expected to face stiff competition from Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional in order for PAS to maintain its dominance in Selangor.