Chances slim for Umno to win in Selangor state polls

(FMT) – Two former Umno leaders say the chances for the party to win seats in the upcoming Selangor state election are slim due to Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) “green wave”.

Sacked Selangor BN chief Noh Omar said this is based on the results of the recent general election (GE15) in which Umno lost all its strongholds in the state.

“My prediction is that it’s hard for Umno to win in Selangor. Which assembly seats can it win?

“Based on the GE15 results, it lost all its strongholds, in constituencies like Sungai Besar, Tanjong Karang and Sabak Bernam. PN won these three seats.

“(So), I don’t see how Umno can win unless they rely on non-Malay votes,” he told the media during an event at Tanjong Karang yesterday.

He said some Malays in Tanjong Karang who voted for Umno in GE15 had told him that if they knew Umno would befriend DAP, they would not have voted for the party.

“Those are the sentiments of Umno supporters now,” said the former Tanjong Karang MP.

Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin also predicted an uphill battle for Umno to win seats in Selangor and overcome the “green wave”.

“In the last (parliamentary) election, PN had surprised (many) when they won constituencies like Kuala Langat and Kapar.

“Do you think (the wave) is just in places like Kuala Selangor, Tanjong Karang, Sungai Besar and Sabak Bernam?

“No, it has now come all the way down to Sepang, and I think Umno will have it tough,” he said at an event in Bukit Damansara several days ago.

Asked to predict Umno’s chances of winning in the upcoming state elections as a whole, Khairy, who lost in Sungai Buloh in GE15, said Umno will “bungkus” (be wiped out), especially in the northern states.

Khairy was also among the Umno leaders who were sacked from the party last month for breaching party discipline during the campaigning for GE15.