THE August 12 state polls will witness a total of 245 seats contested over six states, with three coalitions – Pakatan Harapan (PH), Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) vying to win as many seats as possible. 

The PH-BN coalition will try to further strengthen their ties with their cooperation at the state polls but they will have a daunting task of fending-off the “green wave” brought by PN, a coalition made of Bersatu, PAS and Gerakan. 

From the 570 candidates vying for 245 state seats, several key battles will take place.  

Sungai Tua, Selangor

Incumbent and current Selangor caretaker Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari will face a three-cornered fight to defend his seat. 

Going up against him is PN’s Hanif Jamaluddin and Independent Suman Gopal. 

In the 2018 general election, Amirudin faced a four-cornered battle with BN, PAS and independent candidates, winning with a 11,374 majority.

PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim said Amirudin will remain menteri besar should PH-BN retain Selangor. 

Hulu Kelang, Selangor

In the Hulu Kelang state seat, former Selangor menteri besar Mohamed Azmin Ali will go head-to-head with former Bukit Melawati assemblyman Juwairiya Zulkifli, who is also the political secretary to Amirudin. 

Azmin won the Bukit Antarabangsa state seat on a PKR ticket in 2018 and joined Bersatu in 2020 following the infamous Sheraton Move.

Azmin, the Selangor PN chairman and former economic affairs minister, is returning to active politics after losing to Amirudin in the 15th general election in the Gombak parliamentary seat. 

Both Azmin and Juwairiya have switched constituencies for this state polls. 

Batu Tiga, Selangor

Former women, family and community development Minister Rina Mohd Harun will face a three-cornered battle for the Batu Tiga state seat.

The former Titiwangsa lawmaker will compete against Amanah Selangor youth chief Danial Ad Rashid and Muda candidate Syaidiyah Izzati Nur Razak Maideen. 

Rina, who contested the Sepang parliamentary seat in November last year, lost to Aiman Athirah Sabu of Amanah by close to 9,000 votes. 

Permatang, Selangor

Former Umno bigwig Noh Omar’s daughter Nurul Syazwani Noh will take on PH Selangor’s election director Mohd Yahya Sahri. 

Yahya has been named as a candidate, replacing incumbent Rozana Zainal Abidin, while Nurul Syazwani is making her election debut. 

Nurul Syazwani will have the backing of her father, who was the former Tanjong Karang MP and Selangor Umno chief. 

The Permatang seat falls under the Tanjong Karang parliamentary constituency, which is seen as an advantage for Nurul Syazwani.

Yahya, a former PKR deputy secretary-general and a special officer to the late Selangor menteri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, was sentenced to two years in prison and two strokes of the cane in 2016 for cheating Darul Ehsan Bhd Group president Abdul Karim Munisar. 

A traditional BN seat since the seat was created, the coalition has won in all elections, except in 2018, which PH won by 1,158-vote majority in a three-cornered fight.

Sikamat, Negri Sembilan

Incumbent Aminuddin Harun will face a four-cornered fight for the Sikamat seat. 

The caretaker Negri Sembilan menteri besar will go up against PN’s Ahmad Raihan Muhamad Hilal and two Independents Bujang Abu and Mohammed Hafiz Baharuddin. 

Aminuddin, who is also the MP for Port DIckson, is vying for the seat for his fourth term, which he first won in 2008. 

In 2018, the PKR vice-president won the seat with a 3,413-vote majority. 

Rantau, Negri Sembilan

The other big name to contest in the state polls is former Negri Sembilan menteri besar Mohamad Hasan, who will defend his Rantau seat. 

The defence minister, who has been named to contest in Rantau for a sixth consecutive term, will defend his seat against PAS’ Rozmal Malakan. 

Mohamad, fondly known as Tok Mat, won the Rantau by-election in 2019 by a 4,000-vote majority, defeating PH’s Streram Sinnasamy. 

The Umno deputy president won the state seat uncontested in the 2018 general election. The win was declared null and void, which led to the by-election.

In the general election last year, Mohamad became the Rembau MP, winning a parliamentary seat in his first attempt. 

Juasseh, Negri Sembilan

State Wanita Umno chief Bibi Sharliza Mohd Khaled is caught in a straight fight with PN’s Eddin Syazlee Shith, a former Kuala Pilah MP, for this rural seat. 

Bibi is the wife of former Negri Sembilan menteri besar and Federal Land Development Authority chairman Isa Abdul Samad.

She last served as Paroi assemblyman from 2004 to 2008. 

Eddin, meanwhile, served as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department during Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration and as deputy works minister during Muhyiddin Yassin’s tenure. 

Eddin, the PN state chief, lost the Kuala Pilah parliamentary seat in the general election to Umno’s Adnan Abu Hassan by a 6,483-vote majority. 

Chennah, Negri Sembilan

In a near-equal split demographic of Chinese and Malay constituency, incumbent Anthony Loke will defend his seat in a straight fight against PN’s Rosmadi Ariff. 

Loke, who is also Seremban MP and the transport minister, is looking to win the seat for the third consecutive time. 

The DAP secretary-general previously won the seat with a 1,155-vote majority in a three-cornered fight.  

Jeneri, Kedah

Controversial PAS leader Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, who will defend his Jeneri seat for a second term, will face BN’s Muhamad Khizri Abu Kassim in a straight fight.

The caretaker Kedah menteri besar, won the seat in the 2018 general election, defeating then BN incumbent Mahadzir Abdul Hamid and PH’s Mohd Nazri Abu Hassan with a 2,455-vote majority.

The PN election director was charged at the Selayang Sessions Court two weeks back with two counts of sedition for uttering seditious statements allegedly insulting the royalty. 

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had also said Sanusi will be called in due time to have his statement recorded into the alleged corruption and illegal rare earth elements mining in Kedah. 

Gurun, Kedah

Another contest in Kedah will witness former state football skipper Baddrol Bakhtiar going head-to-head with PH’s Firdaus Johari, the son of Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul.

Firdaus will be contesting the Gurun seat, which his father won in the 2018 general election. Johari vacated the seat in December upon his appointment as speaker. 

Firdaus’ task to win the seat will not be easy as Baddrol, an icon for Kedah folk, is making his political debut. 

Baddrol said his main objective in joining politics is to fight for Islam and the Malays.

Pedu, Kedah

Pedu will witness a straight fight between Kedah BN chairman Mahdzir Khalid and PN’s Mohd Radzi Md Amin.

Mahdzir, who has an impressive portfolio, previously held the seat in 2004 and 2008, and he was the ninth Kedah menteri besar. 

The former Padang Terap MP will now try to wrest the state seat from PAS’ Radzi, who is vying for his second term. 

In the 2018 general election, Radzi won the seat by a slim 670-vote majority, defeating BN’s Kama Noriah Ibrahim and Hashim Idris of PKR. 

Alor Mengkudu, Kedah

This seat also will witness a straight fight between PH-BN and PN, with former Pokok Sena lawmaker Mahfuz Omar taking on Radhi Mat Din.

The Amanah vice-president will now try to keep the seat under PH’s control.

Since its inception, this seat has switched from BN to PAS and now PH. 

In the 2018 general election, Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi of PH won the seat by 1,876-vote majority in a three-cornered fight. 

Kijal, Terengganu

This seat will witness a battle of friends, now foes, with former Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Said taking on Rozali Idris of PN in a straight-fight. 

Ahmad is the Terengganu Umno chief, while Rozali was previously with Umno, as the party’s state youth chief. 

Rozali has now joined Bersatu, a component party of PN. 

Ahmad has been the incumbent in Kijal from 1990 to 1999, and again since 2004. 

Additional seats to watch: 

Bukit Gasing, Selangor

This state seat will witness a tri-cornered contest between Indian candidates. 

Incumbent Rajiv Rishyakaran will defend his seat against V.K.K Raja of Muda and Nallan Dhanabalan of PN. 

Rajiv, contesting for the third time in the constituency, won the seat with a 25,835-vote majority, also in a three-way battle. 

Subang Jaya, Selangor

It will be a multiracial three-way battle for the Subang Jaya state seat. 

Incumbent Michelle Ng Mei Sze will take on famous Malaysian Indian actor-comedian Gana Pragasam Sebastian of PN and Zayd Shaukat of Muda. 

In 2018, Michelle won the seat with a huge 48,272-vote majority. 

Gombak Setia

Incumbent Hilman Idham, who in 2018 won the state seat under the PH banner, will now defend the seat as a PN candidate. 

He will face Selangor liaison chief Megat Zulkarnain Omardin and Independent Mohd Salim Mohd Ali. 

Bertam, Penang

Former Kepala Batas MP Reezal Merican Naina Merican is in a straight fight for the Bertam seat, taking on PN’s Khaliq Mehtab Mohd Ishaq.

In 2018, Khaliq won the seat as a PH candidate in a three-cornered battle, with a paper-thin majority of 217 votes. – July 30, 2023.