PETALING JAYA: PKR’s former Hang Tuah Jaya MP Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin believes a familiar candidate is crucial for the party to defend the parliamentary seat in the 15th general election (GE15).
Shamsul told FMT it was better to field “familiar faces” since GE15 was a snap election, giving the opposition party little time to campaign.
He added that fielding a fresh face for the parliamentary seat would make it hard for it to retain the seat he won in May 2018.
“If GE15 was going to be held next year, then it would be reasonable to do this (field a fresh face),” he said, adding he hoped that party president Anwar Ibrahim would retain him in the constituency.
Shamsul retained the Hang Tuah Jaya seat in 2018, defeating former Melaka chief minister Ali Rustam with a 8,640 votes majority.
He first won the seat, then named Bukit Katil, in 2013, after securing 46,167 votes, to Ali’s 40,720 votes.
Speculation is rife on whether Shamsul would be fielded in the coming polls after he lost in the party elections earlier this year.
However, several PKR leaders who spoke to FMT claimed that the grassroots did not agree with Shamsul on the need to field a familiar face.
Hang Tuah Jaya PKR division chief Rafee Ibrahim said fielding a familiar face was only logical if the individual had a good track record in serving the constituency.
He said it was more crucial that the candidate was one who was approachable and easily contactable.
The former Hang Tuah Jaya municipal council president also said regardless of whether the candidate was a fresh or familiar face, it was important that their work for the constituency was appreciated.
“I’m confident that the people of Hang Tuah Jaya already know who to vote for.” - FMT
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