‘Third force’ unveils two more candidates

Haris (centre) with Haslinah (left) and Nedunchelian. — Picture by Jack Ooi

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) announced today an activist and a dentist will contest in the next general election, joining two other candidates it unveiled recently.

Former AWAM president Haslinah Yacob and Dr Nedunchelian Vengu had offered themselves as candidates, MCLM president Haris Ibrahim told reporters at its headquarters in Taman Desa here.

The first two independent candidates named by the civil society initiative are lawyers Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Sreekant Pillai.

Haris had said MCLM is aiming to get 30 people.

“The gameplan was to first of all offer the independent candidates to the non-BN parties,” he said, adding that it was initially scheduled to be in the first week of January.

Haris said the unexpected delay was because of the Tenang, Merlimau and the possible Port Klang by-elections.

The “third force” president said there will be a roundtable meetings with non-BN parties, tentatively, at the end of February.

“After which, if there no takers, we will then deploy to the constituencies that we are presently scrutinising,” he said.

The lawyer, who blogs on the website the People’s Parliament, said all the candidates are independent of MCLM and that it was just “building structures” for them.

He also stressed that the independent candidates had each been subjected to a stringent background check by private investigators and were required to sign a statutory declaration disclosing all their assets.

Haris said the first candidate announced, Malik, was spearheading the Rakyat Reform Agenda with a few other activists, and the two new candidates will now help to draft the platform.

He was the Rakyat Reform Agenda was a work in progress, and gave no details.

“We have creative people involved and you must allow their creative juices to flow,” he said.

Pressed for a date when it would be ready, he said there would be “some substance” for the candidates to present by March.

Dr Nedunchelian told reporters that he had decided to contest after years of standing by the sidelines because he felt things were not working out the right way.

Haslinah said while being in a non-governmental organisation created the path for her to “touch lives”, she said she would be able to “touch more lives” by being an elected official.

Haris said the two candidates had been ready “for a long time” and that they just needed a platform and support.

He added that three more candidates will be announced after the Chinese New Year. - Malaysian Insider