KUALA LUMPUR – With Perikatan Nasional (PN) securing 22 seats in Selangor at the recently concluded state elections, the question now is who will be the opposition leader at the state assembly. One frequently mentioned is former Selangor menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
Azmin secured the Hulu Kelang state seat with 25,597 votes last Saturday, edging out protégé Juwairiya Zulkifli of Pakatan Harapan (PH), who managed to garner 23,980 votes.
Azmin, who is a former international trade and industry minister, lost the Gombak parliamentary seat to his other protégé, Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari in the 2022 general election (GE15).
Speaking to Scoop, Associate Prof Awang Azman Awang Pawi said Azmin is the right man for the job.
“With his experience as the former MB, he deserves to be the opposition leader.
“He will definitely know the bread-and-butter issues that Selangor people go through, the ‘loopholes’ and deficiencies of the state government.
“Azmin as the opposition leader is a win for democracy and he can provide strong checks and balances.
“This also means that the presumptive menteri besar Amirudin needs to prepare well with his excos before debate with Azmin, who was his mentor during PKR days,” said Awang, who is a socio-political analyst at Universiti Malaya.
At the same time, Awang Azman said Selangor needs watchdogs rather than lapdogs in the state assembly.
“He can ensure the discussions in the state assembly are based on factual arguments and not only playing on sentiment.”
Meanwhile, political analyst Datuk Sivamurugan Pandian shared Awang Azman’s views on Azmin becoming the opposition leader, because the PN information chief’s experience as a minister is an added advantage compared to the others.
“If Azmin brings up good ideas for Selangor, then the state government should leave out their political differences and utilise it.
“The state assembly should not be used as a platform to continue their political quarrels. That should be stopped by both the coalitions.
“They (Azmin and Amirudin) used to work together but now they are at opposing sides. However, this does not mean that they cannot work together for the welfare of the people of Selangor,” Pandian told Scoop.
While Amirudin is PH’s menteri besar candidate, he is yet to be sworn in by the state ruler. – August 15, 2023