PAKATAN Harapan’s (PH) track record in Selangor speaks for itself as the coalition has demonstrated good governance in the past 15 years, DAP state election chief Rajiv Rishyakaran said. 

He said PH’s principles were embodied in its management of the state and its people.

“Winning 51 out of 56 state seats is achievable but let us focus on our core seats and ensure that PH retains the 41 seats we won in the last general election. 

“We need to reach out to the voters to ensure we can represent their concerns. We also need to ensure these are safe seats,” he told The Malaysian Insight. 

Six states – Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan – will be holding their elections on August 12, with nomination day falling on July 29. 

Selangor has the highest number of voters at 3.75 million and the highest number of young voters between the ages of 18 and 20, totalling 274,194. 

Rajiv said DAP’s machinery had been activated for a long time in preparation for the elections. 

“DAP has a five-man selection committee, so whoever the candidates for Selangor are, DAP is ready. 

“Not all incumbents will retain their seats as some have announced their retirement as reported, but there are definitely some new faces.” 

Rajiv also said they will be aggressively engaging with youth on all social media platforms, walkabouts, and talks. 

“We expect strong social media engagement to reach out to the youth and more walkabouts to engage with the youth.” 

Clean governance 

As for their track record, Rajiv said Selangor was the first state to institutionalise open tenders. 

“We also ensured that we collected royalties for sand mining. The revenue collected plus the savings from open tenders have funded a lot of programmes for the people. 

“We also have about 40 people-oriented programmes running, such as for senior citizens, on health and wellness and others that could be funded with these initiatives. 

“We have also demonstrated good racial leadership where you won’t find any race being oppressed. 

“The state government has also assisted in allocating land for places of worship where more than 300 temples have been given land.” 

He added that it had also given aid to Tamil and Chinese schools. 

“So, we have shown leadership in a multiracial country. This is the crux of what the next five years should be like in Selangor.” 

Rajiv also said they had published the Rancangan Selangor Pertama (RS-1), a five-year plan detailing the infrastructure, social issues, and other programmes the state would work on. 

“RS-1 is our short- and long-term plan, so our manifesto would definitely be similar.  

“It covers more than 262 initiatives in various sectors of society from agriculture, infrastructure, and social development to governance and others.” – July 8, 2023.