GE14 | Pakatan Harapan anticipates a tough fight in the semi-urban PAS stronghold of Hulu Langat as it strives to hold on to Selangor in the coming general election.

In 2013, the two-term PAS incumbent Che Rosli Che Mat increased his majority tenfold to 17,267, and is now seeking a third term.

Furthermore, Harapan will face a multi-cornered fight with PAS, PSM and BN for the Malay-majority seat.

However, its candidate Hasanuddin Mohd Yunus argued that PAS had a limited core base there, and that Malay voters who previously supported it were now looking for an alternative to the hardline Islamist party – that being Amanah.

“(Even among PAS supporters), many of them are ‘harum manis’. While they will not oppose the party in the open, when they get to the ballot box they will vote for Harapan in secret.

“We are an attractive alternative,” the Amanah vice-president said.

'Harum manis' is a species of mango, and is now used colloquially to describe PAS supporters sympathetic to Amanah, because it is green on the outside and orange on the inside – the colours of the two parties.

Hasanuddin said this today after launching Harapan’s Dusun Tua operations centre in Batu Sembilan, Kajang.

Hulu Langat is among the largest parliamentary wards in Selangor, spanning from Hulu Langat town down south to Semenyih. 

As Hasanuddin explained, the effect of PAS’ constant berating of its breakaway faction Amanah was cushioned by how Harapan candidates were now contesting under the PKR symbol as their common logo. 

“The PKR logo will cause the anger against Amanah to dissipate,” he said.

The other two contestants for the seat are BN-Umno’s Azman Ahmad and PSM’s S Arutchelvan.

'Harapan a pragmatic choice'

In the state seat of Dusun Tua, Harapan is fielding DAP newcomer Edry Faisal Yusof.

Edry (centre in photo) is up against incumbent PAS assemblyperson Razaly Hassan and BN-Umno's Mohd Zin Isa.

Hasnuddin said he has promised to take Edry campaigning into Malay kampung areas where most of the hardcore Umno and PAS supporters are located.

Edry told Malaysiakini there were many fence-sitters in the area who cared less about party identification and more about what each party had to offer.

Compared to BN and PAS, he believed that Harapan, whose component party PKR leads the Selangor state government, was the most logical choice.

“They will pick the party that will form the (state) government. If they vote for PAS, they won’t get anything,” he said.

On a separate issue, Hasnuddin admitted that the two-year-old Amanah was “trying its best” to convince the conservative and religious Malay voter base of Harapan’s ideals.

He was commenting on pollster Merdeka Centre’s remark that the opposition coalition was not connecting with this segment of voters enough, thus hampering its chances of engendering a 'Malay tsunami' capable of taking Putrajaya.

“Two years is not enough to reach out to all voters, but it should be enough if we can convince 30 percent of conservative Malays of the type of Islam we bring.

“Voter education takes a long time,” he said.