THE Kota Raja division of Umno is hoping that the party leadership will name International Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz the candidate for one of the constituency’s three state seats in the Selangor elections.

Division chief Kamaruzzaman Johari said whether this will happen depends on the outcome of seat negotiations between Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional.

“We are still in discussions; the top leadership will decide. But the hope is that Tengku Zafrul will stand in Selangor,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Tengku Zafrul was appointed to the division’s committee after the general election.

He stood in the Kuala Selangor parliamentary seat but lost to Pakatan Harapan candidate Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad of Amanah.

The Kota Raja federal constituency has three state seats – Sentosa, Sungai Kandis, and Kota Kemuning – all of which are held by PH. PKR’s R. Gunarajah and Zawawi Mughni are the Sentosa and Sungai Kandis assemblymen, respectively, while DAP’s V. Ganabatirau is the Kota Kemuning representative.

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu won Kota Raja in November.

Kamaruzzaman said it is up to PH to decide whether Tengku Zafrul will get to stand in one of the state seats in Kota Raja.

For many years, BN traditionally assigned Sungai Kandis to MIC but in the 2018 by-election, the seat was given to Umno Supreme Council member Lokman Noor Adam, who lost to Zawawi.

Kota Kemuning was an Umno seat which was handed over to Gerakan in 2018. Sentosa was usually allotted to a BN component other than Umno

Kuala Selangor Umno division chief Jahaya Ibrahim said Tengku Zafrul could also stand in one of the constituency’s three state seats.

Despite losing in 2022, Zafrul was made senator and appointed to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s cabinet.

He was in the cabinet as finance minister in the Muhyiddin Yassin administration.

He was formerly Selangor Umno treasurer.

In the recent Umno general assembly, he was tasked to head the election campaign in Selangor. – February 22, 2023.