Its Hulu Selangor division chief Hasnizan Harun said the Islamist party was geared to make a clean sweep of the constituency, along with the three state seats of Ulu Bernam, Kuala Kubu Bharu and Batang Kali there.
He said although the area was traditionally won by Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN), PAS would work hard to reach out to villagers and settlers in the four Felda estates there.
“We are focusing more on Malay voters as it might be hard to get support from the Chinese,” he told FMT.
Nearly 60% of Hulu Selangor’s voters are Malays, while Chinese and Indians make up 23% and 18% respectively.
BN consistently won Hulu Selangor until the election of March 2008 when it lost to PKR by a slim margin of 198 votes.
However, MIC’s P Kamalanathan wrested the seat for BN in a by-election in April 2010 following the death of the PKR MP, Zainal Abidin Ahmad.
Kamalanathan also defended the seat in the last election in May 2013 with a majority of 3,414 votes, brushing aside a challenge from PKR’s Khalid Jaafar.
BN also won Ulu Bernam and Batang Kali by margins of 3,032 and 5,398 votes respectively.
However, it could not take Kuala Kubu Bharu which was won by DAP with a 1,702-vote majority.
Hasnizan said PAS was confident of wresting Ulu Bernam and Batang Kali this time due to the large Malay populations there.
In the 2013 election, PAS had contested in Ulu Bernam only to lose to BN by a margin of 3,032 votes.
“It was just a small margin. The chances of us winning the seat should be better in the upcoming election,” Hasnizan said.
He said there was also a better chance of gaining the Kuala Kubu Bharu constituency despite its large Chinese voter base, claiming that many Malay voters had been transferred there from Batang Kali.
“Now, more than 50% of the voters in Kuala Kubu Bharu are Malays and this will give us a better chance of winning.”
PKR: PAS will spoil but not win
When contacted, Khalid said PAS might be a spoiler by splitting the Malay votes in three-cornered fights between BN, Pakatan Harapan (PH) and PAS in Hulu Selangor and its state constituencies.
However, he added that the party was not as strong as it had been when it was with Pakatan Rakyat.
“Now that it is standing on its own and seen to be close to Umno, which is facing many problems like the 1MDB scandal, its influence has faded.
“Voters are keen to put their faith in PH,” said Khalid, who is executive director of the Institute of Policy Research.
He said support for Umno had declined due to the emergence of PPBM, a component of PH led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is also a former Umno president.
Khalid also said PKR had done much groundwork and was close to the people, and that he was willing to run again in GE14 if requested by PH and PKR.
GE14: MIC president likely to move from Segamat to Hulu Selangor