PN feeling confident in northern Selangor

Hulu Selangor, located in the north of Malaysia's richest state, is a tourist hotspot and a haven for nature lovers. 

But despite its small-town feel, the constituency is bigger than the entire state of Melaka.

It is also the only spot in Selangor that is home to a Felda settlement. 

And behind the natural scenery and peaceful village atmosphere lies the possibility that the shift in Malay support first seen at the 15th general election (GE15) last year might continue at the state polls to come. 

Hulu Selangor has three state constituencies: Hulu Bernam, Kuala Kubu Bharu and Batang Kali. 

Previously held by Barisan Nasional (BN) and then PKR, it was one of several federal seats in Selangor which fell to PAS as part of PN's shock headway in Malay majority seats throughout the country. 

Hasnizan Harun, its current MP, said voters in the constituency used to be loyal to Umno. 

Now, though, he said, they had begun to open up. 

"Before this, it was difficult for PAS to make inroads in certain areas, especially Felda settlements.

"Now, they have no reservations about inviting me to their programmes," he said in an interview with MalaysiaNow. 

Hasnizan, the Selangor PAS treasurer, also said that the party's relationship with Umno under the Muafakat Nasional (MN) pact remained intact despite what he described as the "different direction" taken by the central Umno leadership. 

He said this was partly why PAS had succeeded in penetrating Umno's strongholds in Malay-majority areas. 

"Our ties with our friends in MN were never cut, and were linked with our victory in Hulu Selangor."

The Islamist party previously lost elections by tens of thousands of votes, especially in Felda areas. 

At the 14th general election (GE14) in May 2018, it came in third in the race for the Batang Kali state seat.

At GE15, Hasnizan said, PN's machinery had moved into the rural districts where other candidates had not gone – a move to which he attributed his election win. 

In Batang Kali, Harumaini Omar from Pejuang is the incumbent while Hulu Bernam and Kuala Kubu Bharu were won by Rosni Sohar from BN and Lee Kee Hiong from Pakatan Harapan (PH).

Of the three seats, PN is aiming to take Batang Kali and Hulu Bernam which are both Malay-majority constituencies. 

Kuala Kubu Bharu, on the other hand, may prove more of a challenge as Malays form only 50% of the electorate. 

Selangor as a whole has 56 seats in its legislative assembly. Of these, PH won 51 at GE14 while BN took four and PAS one. 

PH later lost six seats with Bersatu's exit from the coalition. 

Hasnizan said he was confident that PAS would be able to win over BN supporters who were unhappy with the coalition's decision to join hands with PH at the federal level. 

For the moment, he said, the focus is on public interest issues such as rural infrastructure, health clinics and community colleges. 

He said some residents in Serendah had also complained about the East Coast Rail Line project, claiming that lorries and trucks involved in the construction had used residential roads, causing damage and endangering children.