Rodziah pleads against early sacrifice of Ampang seat
KUALA LUMPUR : Ampang MP Rodziah Ismail hopes to serve out her current term but is prepared to make way for another PKR candidate in the 16th general election (GE16).
The former Selangor executive councillor's remarks follow confirmation that investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz has joined PKR's Ampang division. He quit Umno on May 30.
Rodziah, the PKR welfare bureau chief, said the development had fuelled speculation of 'certain agendas', including questions about the Ampang parliamentary seat and the two state seats under it.
Ampang PKR chief Syed Ahmad Abdul Rahman Alhadad holds the Lembah Jaya state seat while Selangor deputy speaker Kamri Kamaruddin has the Bukit Antarabangsa seat.
'Whatever the decision may be, let's wait until the end of the current term. Don't turn Ampang into a sacrificial seat.
'If the sole purpose is to create space and pave the way early by asking any MP or assemblyman to step aside, I think that is unreasonable,' said Rodziah, who won the Ampang seat in the 2022 general election (GE15).
She won with a 29,681-vote majority, defeating former PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin and eight other candidates.
Rodziah was moved from the Batu Tiga state seat in the Shah Alam parliamentary constituency to reclaim Ampang from Zuraida, who won it under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) banner before joining Bersatu and later Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).
In February, FMT quoted sources as saying that Tengku Zafrul was expected to contest a Selangor seat in the next general election, with Ampang being his top choice, and Petaling Jaya and Pandan as other possibilities.
Speaking to FMT in an interview at Parliament, Rodziah said she would abide by the party's decision on GE16 candidates, for both state and parliamentary seats.
'If my services are needed, I will continue. If the decision is otherwise, I will accept it because over the past few years, I have seen where my path may lead,' said Rodziah, who lost the contest for the PKR women's chief in May.
Last week, PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh confirmed that Tengku Zafrul's application to join PKR's Ampang division had been approved by the party's central leadership council at its July 26 meeting.
The senator had resigned as an Umno Supreme Council member and Kota Raja division chief.
Tengku Zafrul, who joined Umno in 1997, was seen as a technocrat when appointed as finance minister in Muhyiddin Yassin's Cabinet in March 2020, a role he retained in Ismail Sabri Yaakob's administration.
His Umno membership only became publicly known ahead of GE15 when he was named Barisan Nasional's candidate for Kuala Selangor, a seat he failed to win.
In April 2024, Tengku Zafrul quit as Selangor Umno treasurer, citing a lack of serious effort to revive the party in the state after its poor showing in the state polls, fuelling speculation – first emerging in December – that he was leaving Umno.
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