Report: Amanah’s Khalid Samad might switch from Shah Alam to Titiwangsa to face Umno’s Johari Abdul and Bersatu’s Wan Ahmad Fayhsal
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Three political heavyweights from Umno, Bersatu and Amanah are expected to clash in the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat in the November 19 general election.
According to a report in Utusan Malaysia today, Umno is likely to field its Federal Territories division chairman Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani while Bersatu plans to go with its Youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal.
The incumbent Titiwangsa MP Datuk Seri Rina Harun who is also from Bersatu will reportedly be shifted to contest in Sepang. Umno and Bersatu are the lynchpin parties for the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalitions respectively.
The Malay daily cited Khalid Samad, who is the incumbent MP for the Selangor state capital, as saying there is a “high possibility” that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) leadership will name him for the national city’s hot seat, claiming that Titiwangsa originally belonged to his party Amanah.
“[We] have to wait for the announcement. I have been in Shah Alam for three terms and it's time to hand it over to future leaders who have already been prepared. Whether I compete in Titiwangsa or somewhere else, it will be decided later,” the Amanah communications director who was also formerly Federal Territories minister was quoted as saying.
“In GE14, we handed over to Bersatu and at that time Rina contested and we helped her to win. Therefore, in GE15 the Titiwangsa seat will return to Amanah,” Khalid added.
When asked, he also expressed confidence that PH would be able to secure the Shah Alam parliamentary seat after he leaves as its supporters have long been stationed there Bersatu had been a part of the PH coalition in Election 2018 but quit in February 2020 after striking a deal with rivals from Umno and PAS, triggering the collapse of the government.
Rina won the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat with a majority of 4,139 votes in the 14th general election, defeating Johari Abdul and Mohamad Noor Mohamad from PAS.
