PAS will be wiped out if Selangor holds snap polls
DAP Selangor chairman says if snap polls is held, Pakatan Rakyat will lose its hold on the state
(Free Malaysia Today) – If Selangor calls for snap elections, chances are that PAS will be wiped out and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will lose its hold on the state.
DAP Selangor chairman, Tony Pua, said the PR coalition – comprising PKR, PAS and DAP – will suffer “significant losses” should state elections be called but warned PAS would lose the most.
The warning comes following the PAS president’s backing of Khalid Ibrahim to remain as Menteri Besar while Khalid’s party, PKR, wants him replaced with party president Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
“PAS’ insistence on supporting Khalid will lead to snap elections, which will only cause PAS to lose most, if not all, of their hard-won seats. This in all likelihood will hand Selangor back to Umno on a silver platter,” Pua said in a statement today.
He said that since PKR and DAP wanted to replace Khalid while PAS, together with Umno’s support, wanted Khalid to remain, the state assembly would be split down the middle with no clear majority.
“Under such circumstances, Khalid will likely gain the consent of the Sultan of Selangor to hold snap elections.”
PR has 44 seats in the assembly while the opposition Barisan Nasional (BN) has the remaining 12 seats. PAS and DAP each has 15 seats while PKR has 14.
Pua, who is also the Petaling Jaya Utara MP, said that if both PKR and DAP were to suffer a 3% and 10% drop in Malay and non-Malay votes respectively, they would suffer a combined loss of seven seats out of the 30 contested, including Batu Tiga, Ijok, Kota Anggerik, Taman Medan, Port Klang, Kuala Kubu Baru and Sg. Pelek.
“This will leave PKR and DAP with 10 and 13 seats respectively.
“However, even in the most optimistic scenario where there is inconceivably no drop in Malay support for PAS, coupled with only a 15% drop in non-Malay support, the party will lose seven of the 15 seats won in the last general election. The most vulnerable seats are Sabak Bernam, Gombak Setia, Dusun Tua, Selat Kelang, Sijangkang, Morib and Tanjong Sepat.”
