He questioned why Bersatu is willing to risk nominating those who were defeated in the November general election (GE15) this time around.
They include Azmin Ali, who has been fielded in Hulu Kelang, Rina Harun (Batu Tiga), Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif (Bukit Antarabangsa) and Dr Afif Bahardin (Taman Medan), all whom he described as “undeserving” as they had been rejected by the people.
Faiz said he had personally raised the matter with Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin as well as in meetings, but was told the decision on the candidates was final.
“This problem also occurred during the Melaka and Johor state elections, where we suffered defeat because of wrong candidate selection,” he said, according to Utusan Malaysia.
He said the data presented during the meetings supposedly showed they had genuine support, but it turned out not to be the case after post-mortems were conducted.
“This is not the first time. There are several other candidates I’m not familiar with, said to be in Azmin’s camp, who have been nominated as candidates in the state election,” he said.
Perikatan Nasional is eyeing all 56 state seats in Selangor, with Bersatu contesting the lion’s share of 31, followed by PAS (17) and Gerakan (eight).
Faiz also claimed that there are non-Malay PN candidates identified as loyalists of former Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, who quit Bersatu and joined Parti Bangsa Malaysia, but also left the party after it faced internal crises last year.
“There are some from Zuraida’s camp who joined the Muafakat Nasional NGO and Gerakan. They are now contesting as PN candidates under Gerakan’s ticket. So, we’re obviously angry that they’ve been fielded,” he said.
He also alleged that there is a former Bersatu member who joined Pejuang and campaigned for the Dr Mahathir Mohamad-led party, but now claims to still be with Bersatu and has become a candidate for the party.
Without naming the person, Faiz said the individual has been fielded as PN’s candidate in Bukit Melawati. Previously, Muhyiddin announced Noorazley Yahya as PN’s candidate for the seat.
He also said there were candidates who have never contributed to Bersatu but were fielded as candidates, including “former gangsters and NGO members”.