Selangor PAS fields councillors from various local councils for GE14

Thirty percent of PAS candidates contesting in Selangor for GE14 are local councillors in the state.

There are 20 councillors from various local councils in Selangor with four each from the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) and Kuala Selangor District Council (MDKS).

There are two each from Hulu Selangor District Council (MDHS), Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ), Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and Sepang Municipal Council (MPSepang).

Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj), Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ), Klang Municipal Council (MPK) and Kuala Langat District Council (MDKL) will each have one councillor contesting for the party.

In total, Selangor PAS will be contesting 20 parliamentary seats and 47 state seats.

State PAS commissioner Sallehen Mukhyi, said candidates’ experience in working with local council administration would be a plus point for them as assemblyman and MPs should they win.

“They are on the ground, dealing with people’s issues and the council so they will be experienced enough for the position.

“They also displayed high level of commitment,” he added.

Sallehan said the party hoped its decision to field the councillors would be well-received by voters especially since the selected candidates were popular with the people.

According to him, candidates were chosen based on their popularity and willingness to meet the people and resolve issues during their tenure as councillors.

“We definitely wanted it to be a factor to draw in voters.

“There is no point fielding candidates who are not popular among voters,” he said, adding that the candidates were those with high integrity and had a clean record.

Residents and non-governmental organisations have mixed feelings about the decision.

Wan Ahmad Khalid Abdullah, 44, said he was happy that his area councillor Ahmad Dusuki Abdul Rani would be in the running for the N40 Kota Anggerik state seat.

“We already have good rapport with him and this will come in handy for us after he becomes the assemblyman,” he added.

Shashi Dharan Nair, 38, from Shah Alam said experience alone was not enough for a candidate.

Shashi said candidates should be competent instead of merely having basic knowledge of the system.

“Yes, they may be well-versed in the running of a council or the state, however are they competent enough to raise our problems? Otherwise there will be no end to our issues,” he added.

MyPJ, co-chair Esham Salam said residents welcomed any party with representation for the people and not for the party.

Although the move to field councillors was not new, Esham said it was a smart move to field a large number of them in GE14.

He also said the bottomline for MyPJ – a non-partisan organisation coalition of 41 residents associations and Rukun Tetangga in Petaling Jaya was to have local candidates.

“We want local representation, candidates from Petaling Jaya and not parachute candidates from anywhere else in the country,” he added.

Esham said there were two major issues from MyPJ perspective, transit-oriented development and local council elections.

“We will scrutinise their stand and performance while in office on these two issues.

“We know the candidates who have done damage in approving developments indiscriminately and those who have not been supportive of non-governmental organisations and the people,” he added.