Umno to contest Hulu Kelang seat?

While the Kota Raja Umno division is pushing for PKR to make way at Sungai Kandis in the upcoming Selangor state election, it is learnt that the party is also gunning for the Hulu Kelang seat.

According to sources close to BN and Pakatan Harapan leadership, Umno has recently made the N18 Hulu Kelang constituency one of the state seats it wishes to add to its Selangor list.

An Umno source claimed that the party has successfully negotiated its way into getting the seat, which Amanah's Saari Sungib held.

"We have got one more seat, Hulu Kelang," claimed the source, who is close to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's office.

According to the party insider, this has increased the number of seats that Umno will contest in Selangor to 11.

An official confirmation on this has yet to be ascertained as top leaders from Harapan and BN remained tightlipped on the progress of ongoing negotiations between the two ruling coalitions.

When contacted on the matter, Amanah communication director Khalid Samad also provided a non-definitive response, where he did not confirm nor deny whether Amanah is ready to make way for Umno in Hulu Kelang.

"Nothing is finalised until it is finalised," he said.

Selangor Umno deputy liaison chairperson Johan Abdul Aziz also declined to elaborate when asked if it's true that Umno has got its 11th seat through the ongoing negotiations.

"Belum finalise (yet to be finalised)," he said briefly in a text message.

Hulu Kelang is a Malay-majority seat previously held by Amanah's Saari Sungib for three consecutive terms.

He won the seat in 2008 and 2013 on a PAS ticket before leaving the Islamist party in 2015 to Amanah with several other former PAS leaders. He won Hulu Kelang again on the Harapan ticket in the 2018 general election.

However, Saari reportedly told Amanah leadership that he does not wish to defend the seat for another term due to health issues.

No signal from leadership

Another source from Hulu Kelang Amanah told Malaysiakini that he knew of Umno's wish to field its candidate in Hulu Kelang during the upcoming state polls.

However, he claimed that there has been no signal from Harapan leadership that they are surrendering the seat to Umno.

"So far, from the indication given to us here (Hulu Kelang), we are going ahead with campaign preparation for Amanah to defend the seat," he said.

According to the insider, Hulu Kelang was not on the original list of Selangor seats negotiated between Harapan and BN.

He claimed that the negotiation between the two parties at the state level did not touch on Hulu Kelang. The new demand allegedly popped up after the discussion was taken to the federal level.

Speaking about the purported tussle for the Hulu Kelang seat, the source believed it would be unfair if Amanah were to make way for Umno, saying that it is the only seat that Amanah has under the Gombak parliamentary constituency.

"Speaking about being fair, if Harapan were to make way for BN in Gombak, PKR should give up its quota, as it has two seats to contest - Gombak Setia and Sungai Tua.

"Umno also should be going for the Gombak Setia seat. I believe they can have better chances there as the Gombak Umno chief (Megat Zulkarnain Omardin) has a big influence in Gombak Setia," he said.

On the other hand, Hulu Kelang Harapan media director Syazmir Hariz Noorazalan in a statement believes the seat will remain in Amanah's hands.

He said Harapan's top leadership stated that each party will defend seats where they are the incumbent.

"Thus, there is no issue about overlapping claims for the Hulu Kelang seat and the need for negotiation, as all political parties within the unity government hold to this basic principle.

"Besides, Umno-BN in Hulu Kelang has participated in serious discussions regarding Harapan ground works in Hulu Kelang, and this shows their commitment to help Harapan in defending the seat," he said.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that three names had been submitted to Amanah and Harapan's top leadership for potential candidates to defend the Hulu Kelang seat.

Among them is Saari's eldest daughter Anfaal, who is Amanah's Wanita wing deputy chief.

This was confirmed by Saari when contacted by Malaysiakini recently.

"Anfaal is among the three names submitted by Gombak Amanah to the Selangor party leadership. I learnt that Selangor has also sent Anfaal's name (for Hulu Kelang) to the central leadership.

"From the three, two others are men. But based on seniority, Anfaal is far more senior than them," he told Malaysiakini.

In the 2018 general election, Saari defended his seat from BN's Ismail Ahmad with a 15,349 vote majority. PAS' Kamalulhysham Mohd Suhut came third in the polls.

There were also rumours that former Bukit Antarabangsa state assemblyperson Azmin Ali, a former Gombak MP, would contest the Hulu Kelang seat for Perikatan Nasional in the upcoming state polls.

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