Ezam confirms contesting in Shah Alam, Khalid asks why
Former PKR Youth chief Ezam Mohd Noor confirms he will contest in Shah Alam parliamentary constituency and denies his presence will split PH’s support.
(FMT) – Former senator Ezam Mohd Noor has confirmed his intention to contest the Shah Alam parliamentary seat as an independent candidate in the 14th general election (GE14).
The former PKR Youth chief, who was appointed as a senator under Barisan Nasional (BN), said he agreed with the decision by Hisbah Malaysia to nominate him to stand in the parliamentary constituency.
Hisbah Malaysia is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) headed by Ezam.
Shah Alam, a Malay-majority constituency, is likely to see a multi-cornered fight with Pakatan Harapan, BN and PAS all keen to win the seat.
Ezam, who was also a PPBM member for about three months, said he would reveal the reason for wanting to run there once Parliament was dissolved.
“Our focus is on raising issues about misuse of power and our nation’s assets. Shah Alam will be the best battleground for us to send our message out to the people,” he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.
He said claims that his presence among the contenders would split the PH vote were not correct as he was once an Umno member and could garner votes from the party’s supporters.
Hisbah Malaysia secretary Abdul Ghani Haroon announced Ezam’s planned candidacy yesterday.
Ezam had tried to wrest the seat once before in the general election of 1999 when he lost to BN’s Mohd Zin Mohamed with a slim margin of 1,440 votes.
Ezam, who was then a member of Keadilan, the precursor to PKR, had garnered 34,411 votes compared to Mohd Zin’s 35,851.
‘Ezam’s presence will benefit BN’
Meanwhile Amanah’s Khalid Samad, who has been the Shah Alam MP since 2008, told FMT that Ezam needed to clarify his planned candidacy as it was likely to work in favour of BN.
“He must explain whether he wants to help PH or cause problems for us, or if he has a certain agenda,” Khalid said.
He said Ezam would need to convince the voters that his decision was genuine and reasonable.
“That’s up to him. It is his right. It is a democratic system, but people will criticise his intention and the real motive behind his action,” Khalid said.
There is speculation that besides Ezam, Selangor menteri besar and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali will also contest the seat.
Selangor PKR information chief Shuhaimi Shafiei said Azmin could contest in any parliamentary seat in the state as he was state PH chairman.
He said Keadilan had made history there when it reduced BN’s majority in Shah Alam in 1990.
“Prior to that, Umno used to win on behalf of BN by a margin of more than 40,000 votes. So, Shah Alam is not a new seat for us,” he said.
In the last polls in 2013, Khalid won the seat for PAS by defeating BN’s Zulkifli Noordin with a comfortable majority of 10,939 votes.
