No tussle in Sungai Siput, says PSM

But the clenched fist logo stays, says secretary general Arutchelvan 

K Pragalath, FMT

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has denied that it is tussling with PKR over the Sungai Siput parliament seat.

Responding to a news report that a three-corner fight was in the making in the constituency, PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan released a press statement today saying there was no friction between said his party and PKR.

The report, which FMT published yesterday, quoted a PKR insider as saying his party might field its own candidate for the seat because PSM was insisting on using its own logo in the campaign for the coming election.

“On the ground, there is no real tussle,” Arutchelvan said. “People want to see change and PSM is committed to that agenda.”

He added that PSM would support Pakatan Rakyat candidates in all seats except the four that it is contesting—Sungai Siput and the state constituencies of Jelapang in Perak and Kota Damansara and Semenyih in Selangor.

“We hope that PR will not force three-corner fights for these seats,” he said, adding that negotiations to avoid this were ongoing.

The current MP for Sungai Siput is PSM’s Dr D Michael Jeyakumar. He contested as a PKR candidate in 2008 and beat then MIC president S Samy Vellu.

The PKR insider said yesterday that PSM’s logo, which features a clenched left fist, would put off Malay voters.

Arutchelvan rejected claims that voters would reject PSM because of its left-leaning ideology and defended the party’s use of its logo in campaigning.

He said PSM had been promoting the logo since its inception in 1998 even though it was registered only in 2008.

“The fist is now a hit among the young people,” he added.

“PSM will agree to use a common Pakatan logo if there is one. If there is none, it should be only fair for PSM to use its own logo.”