Selangor round-up Selangor is set to be the venue for the battle of the giants. So, will the honour of giant-killer go to PAS, given the unflinching support and loyalty shown by the grassroots in most parts of the state?

Stay tuned... because after Kedah, Selangor is the state to watch.

Armed with nine new state seats - Bangi, Bukit Melawati, Kuang, Teratai, Kinrara, Kota Damansara, Sungai Pinang, Pandamaran and Seri Muda - voters can be assured of a showdown between Umno, PAS and Keadilan.

PAS, for one, is hell-bent on wresting away several BN seats, both parliamentary and state.

Top favourite is the Sungai Panjang state seat won by Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo by a mere 165 votes against PAS' Mohd Fadzin Taslimin in 1999.

Some serious action is anticipated in this area, with PAS moving in full throttle.

The party's central committee member, Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli, said they are banking on the predominantly (over 80 percent) Malay voters to deliver the votes.

"We are going all out to unseat the MB. We're confident of winning because we have been working really hard in this area," he told malaysiakini .

The Barisan Alternatif needs 29 seats to gain a simple majority to form the Selangor government, and PAS wants to contribute half of that - about 13 to 15 seats.

The two that PAS is confident of retaining are Sungai Burung and Gombak Setia. In 1999, party vice-president Dr Hasan Mohd Ali ( right ) and Ismail Kamus won marginally with 91 and 953 votes respectively.

The party is also confident of denying the BN two more constituencies - Sabak and the new state seat of Bangi.

Dr Shafie Abu Bakar, the serving Kajang PAS assemblyperson, may be fielded in Bangi, given the fact that it was partly carved out of Kajang. He won Kajang by a paper-thin majority of 37 votes in 1999.

Khir Toyo to be replaced?

Tanjung Karang is predicted to be one hotly-contested state seat. PAS grassroots leader Zulkifli Noordin is expected to face the Umno deputy division chief Mohd Noh Omar.

Mohd Noh, the former parliamentary secretary in the Prime Minister's Department, won by more than 2,000 votes the last time.

Rumour has it that he is going to be the next Selangor menteri besar, replacing Dr Mohd Khir Toyo who may be asked to stand for parliament.

According to Mohd Hatta, PAS has a good chance of winning in Tanjung Karang, Sijangkang and Batu Tiga, which he described as a traditional opposition stronghold.

In Batu Tiga, German-born Animah Annette Ferrar, the Keadilan Wanita chief, may contest for state.

Kota Anggerik is also a hot seat with BN's Salamon Selamat recording a marginal win (less than five percent of the total votes cast) against PAS' Mahfodz Mohamed in the last general election.

Keadilan Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor was supposed to contest in this state seat, leaving Shah Alam to his comrade Khalid Samad, an active PAS veteran in the area. But yesterday, he was notified of his disqualification for candidacy by the Election Commission.

He was also supposed to meet Najib head-on in Pekan, prompting PAS to agree to swap Shah Alam for the two state seats of Kota Anggerik and Batu Tiga.

In 1999, Mohd Ezam lost to Mohd Zin Mohamad ( right ), the Backbenchers Club president, by a margin of 1,440 votes.

Sabak Bernam is another state seat to follow since there is a good chance for Keadilan to recapture the seat from BN's Zainal Dahlan, who won by less than 1,000 votes.

Meeting 'zero opposition' target

Interestingly, the BN is equally confident of winning or regaining lost seats in Selangor.

Kelana Jaya state assemblyperson Mokhtar Dahlan was very sure that Mohd Khir's target for the state - 'zero opposition' - would be met.

"God-willing, we will deliver this time because we're better prepared than in 1999. We are confident of winning back marginal seats that were lost by less than 500 or 1,000 votes.

"The programmes we have been doing in the constituencies and the crowd turnout shows that we have ground support."

Previously, he said, many people were not interested in attending Umno functions. "But now, even small gatherings are proving to be crowd-pullers," he said.

"The chances are better now because the state government has been addressing a wide range of issues affecting people from all walks of life including health, education, housing, aid for the poor, single parents and ex-servicemen," added Mokhtar.

But Mohd Hatta said the PAS machinery has improved by leaps and bounds since the last election. "We have more branches now and the grassroots activities are carried out well."

Selangor, with five new parliamentary seats of Sungai Besar, Ampang, Puchong, Kelana Jaya and Kota Raja, also promises to be a battlefront for several others, namely Gombak, Shah Alam, Hulu Langat, Klang and Sabak Bernam.

Political observers think that winning Gombak would be easy for Mohd Hatta, because he lost to Zaleha Ismail by only 803 votes.

But they feel that things would turn tricky if he faces Zaleha's possible replacement, Dr Mashitah Ibrahim, a well-known orator and Islamic studies lecturer at the International Islamic University.

She is said to be popular among women and has also appeared regularly on TV to talk about women and Islamic issues.

Hulu Langat is another hot parliamentary seat which both PAS and the DAP have been focusing on, particularly bandying issues on corruption, dirty water supply and damage to public health and environment.

Fighting tooth and nail

For example, the opposition is sure to capitalise on the protests against the controversial incinerator proposed in Broga, near Semenyih, that has led to a public outcry at home and abroad.

The failure of the incumbent, Badrul Hisham Abdul Aziz, to handle the issue would be the fodder needed by the opposition.

Badrul Hisham won Hulu Langat by almost 4,000 votes to defeat Keadilan's Dr Mohd Nor Nawawi in 1999, but hopes of retaining his seat would prove futile if the locals execute their plan to vote in the opposition.

In Subang, KS Nijhar is rumoured to have been dropped by the MIC to be replaced by a younger candidate.

In 1999, the BN made a clean sweep of all 17 parliamentary seats in Selangor. Umno won eight, MCA (6) and MIC (3).

Given the impending battle of the banners, one thing is clear. BN candidates will be fighting tooth and nail to retain the coalition's current strongholds and try to regain lost seats if they intend to keep Selangor within the BN fold.