GE14 | Selangor Pakatan Harapan is confident of retaining power in the state with a two-third majority in the May 9 polls, its deputy president Tony Pua (above) has been quoted saying.

This comes despite reports of recent internal tussling within the coalition, most notably within PKR over seat allocations and candidate selections, as well as perceived disadvantageous electoral boundaries from the Election Commission's redelineation exercise, and potential multi-cornered fights thanks to BN and PAS.

According to Oriental Daily, Pua said he believed the coalition could win 40 state seats out of 56, or even repeat their victory in the 2013 polls by winning 44 seats.

As for the state DAP, Pua said it is eyeing a clean sweep of the four parliamentary seats and 16 state seats it will contest.

The Selangor DAP chief said the lack of strong state leaders or prominent candidates being fielded by Barisan National (BN) were among the reasons the opposition coalition will retain the state government.

Other reasons cited by Pua were the series of scandals involving the caretaker federal government and the sentiments of urban voters.

"Many Malay voters are staying in urban areas such as Sri Setia, Kota Anggerik and Seri Serdang. The issues raised by us resonate well with them.

"Selangor BN has no general to lead the election battle. It is not ready to fight," he added.

PAS not a threat

Pua said he is least concerned with PAS, as he claimed statements made by its leaders showed it was disconnecting from the overall political scenario.

Pua is also Harapan's potential candidate for Damansara, formerly called Petaling Jaya Utara of which he is the incumbent.

While admitting that the voters were unhappy with PKR's infighting over candidates, Pua believed the voters will look at a bigger picture and set aside their dissatisfaction once the dust has settled down.

"The voters want no internal fights, but as long as you resolve it swiftly and come out with candidates, then it's okay. This can be seen from previous incidents," he added.

Last week, media reported that a crisis was brewing in Selangor after speculation that eight candidates from the faction of Selangor Harapan president Azmin Ali would be dropped.

There had been rumours that PKR vice-president Tian Chua would quit the party in relation to this.

The latter, however, reaffirmed his support for PKR but warned the leadership to be cautious about the selection of candidates.

Incumbent Rawang assemblyperson Gan Pei Nei, meanwhile, had complained about a poison pen letter being sent out in a bid to get her dropped as a candidate.

PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail later denied that there were warring factions within the party and blamed BN for the drama.