From five to 15 members, Selangor Opposition bloc turns vocal

SHAH ALAM: When the Selangor Legislative Assembly convened after the 14th general election in 2018, there were only five elected representatives seated on the Opposition side.

The five were Umno's Rizam Ismail (Sungai Air Tawar), Datuk Mohd Imran Tamrin (Sungai Panjang), Datuk Rosni Sohar (Hulu Bernam), Datuk Shamsudin Lias (Sungai Burong) and PAS' sole assemblyman Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (Sijangkang).

The atmosphere on the Opposition end had been very subdued and quiet.

Now, just two years later, the number at the Opposition gallery in the 56-member house has ballooned to 15.

The climate too has changed with members of the Opposition becoming more animated and vocal in their debates.

The increase came gradually, starting with the death of Pakatan Harapan's Semenyih assemblyman Bakhtiar Mohd Nor in January last year.

Bakhtiar was also the Hulu Langat Bersatu division chief at the time of his death.

The by-election saw Pakatan losing the seat to Barisan Nasional's Zakaria Hanafi was voted in as the new Semenyih assemblyman.

Early this year, the Opposition number in the 56-member increased further when Bersatu ditched Pakatan in favour of a collaboration with Barisan and PAS.

Although three out of the five Bersatu assemblymen – Mohd Shaid Rosli (Jeram), Sallehudin Amiruddin (Kuang) and Harumaini Omar (Batang Kali) – have declared themselves to be Pakatan-friendly, they are still seated with the Opposition.

Their other two Bersatu colleagues are Datuk Mohd Rashid Asari (Selat Kelang) and Adhif Syan Abdullah (Dengkil).

The number further went up with the expulsion of PKR elected representatives Datuk Seri Azmin Ali (Bukit Antarabangsa), Hilman Idham (Gombak Setia) and recently, Haniza Talha (Lembah Jaya), from their party.

The party's Sementa assemblyman Dr Daroyah Alwi also joined the Opposition bloc after she quit PKR in June.

Asked about his thoughts on the matter, Dr Ahmad Yunus of PAS said it was disturbing that there were quite a number of politicians not loyal to their party.

"It's a new political generation with an unhealthy political culture.

"They can just jump out of their parties without considering the basis of their initial political struggles," said Dr Ahmad Yunus, who is also Selangor PAS commissioner.

He said elected representatives must remember that they were voted in on the tickets of the parties they had belonged to at the time of the general election.

"Whatever problems they have with their parties can be solved internally and it does not warrant them leaving their parties," he said.

If they want to leave their parties, they should do so after serving their terms, he added.