How PH dominated in Selangor

PETALING JAYA: Despite earlier predictions that it would be a close call in Selangor, Pakatan Harapan (PH) retained the state with an even bigger majority than it did in the 13th General Election (GE13).
This time, PH swept 51 of the 56 state seats on offer, along with 20 of the 22 parliamentary seats. While in GE13, PH had won 44 state seats and 17 parliamentary seats.
What was commonly perceived as the Barisan Nasional (BN) controlled rural heartland saw a turnaround as only four seats out of a possible 10 were retained.
PAS, however, was the biggest casualty, losing 12 seats in the state.
Selangor PAS exco member Datuk Ahmad Yunus Hairi was the only survivor, despite fighting a three-cornered fight for his N51 Sijangkang State Seat.
It is learnt that his survival was possibly due to the ground work that he had done in his constituencies, which led Ahmad Yunus polling 12,688 votes, winning with a 1,677-vote majority.
BN candidate Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Karli and PKR candidate Mohd Hamidi Abu Bakar garnered 10,420 votes and 11,011 votes, respectively.
Selangor BN chairman Tan Sri Noh Omar, who had previously enjoyed massive majorities, saw his victory in GE14 slashed by half in the Tanjong Karang parliamentary seat fight.
PH's Datuk Dr Zulkaferi Hanafi could have pulled off a surprise win if not for the votes garnered by PAS' Nor Az Azlan Ahmad.
Noh polled at 17,596 votes, winning with a 1,970-vote majority in GE14.
PH candidate Dr Zulkaferi and Nor Az Azlan from PAS garnered 15,626 votes and 7,276 votes, respectively.
In the 13th general election, Noh won the seat by a 4,394 majority vote in a three-cornered fight against Mohamad Rasdi Deraman (PAS) and independent candidate Herman Tino.
The Hulu Bernam state seat could have also seen a total sweep by PH as BN's candidate Datuk Rosni Sohar won by the lowest majority in the country, which is about 20 votes.
She defeated PH's Amran Sakir and Salleh Ri from PAS who garnered 8,144 votes and 2,554 votes, respectively.
For the Pandan Indah state seat (renamed from Chempaka), incumbent Datuk Iskandar Abdul Samad (PAS) lost by 7,517 votes against Selangor Amanah chief Izham Hashim, who had 24,914 votes.