BN, PR, 2 independents fight for Hulu Selangor
By Adib Zalkapli and Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider
Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) Datuk Zaid Ibrahim will defend the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat against Barisan Nasional’s (BN) P. Kamalanathan and two independents — V. Chandran and Johan Md Diah — in the April 25 by-election.
Returning officer Nor Hisham Md Diah confirmed them after no objections were received when the objection period ended at 11am. A fifth hopeful, J. Anuradha, claimed the police and the Election Commission (EC) blocked her from contesting and has now offered her support to PR after opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim spoke to her.
The by-election is Selangor’s first but the country’s 10th since Election 2008.
PR and BN supporters had crowded the nomination centre in Kuala Kubu Baru since morning to see candidates file their papers for the parliamentary seat that was left vacant on the death of PKR MP Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad, who won by a narrow 198 votes against four-term BN lawmaker Datuk G. Palanivel in 2008.
PKR, DAP and PAS make up the unofficial PR which won an unprecedented four more states and 82 federal seats in Election 2008, denying BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority.
PKR had named Zaid to convince Hulu Selangor’s 64,500 voters that it should continue returning the party to Parliament to keep the ruling BN in check. He was elected the Kota Baru MP in 2004 but was dropped by Umno in 2008.
