PKR drops eight incumbents, moves three

 

PKR dropped eight incumbent MPs from their Peninsular Malaysia candidates list and moved three to other constituencies.

The eight are Natrah Ismail (Sekijang), June Leow (Hulu Selangor), Maria Chin Abdullah (Petaling Jaya), Sivarasa Rasiah (Sungai Buloh), Tan Yee Kiew (Wangsa Maju), Lee Boon Chye (Gopeng), Chan Ming Kai (Alor Setar) and Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani).

It is understood that both Tan and Lee, aged 69 and 63, respectively, had already informed the party of their plan to retire after their current term.

Four of those who were dropped - Leow, Chan, Sivarasa and Johari - were notably unsuccessful in their respective bids for a position on the party's central leadership when elections were held earlier this year.

Johari and Leow were also unsuccessful in their attempts to get elected as division leaders for PKR Sungai Petani and Hulu Selangor chapters, respectively.

PKR will be fielding Johari's son, Taufiq, for Sungai Petani. He is the state PKR youth chief.

Sivarasa, however, retained his position as the Sungai Buloh PKR division chief.

Surprisingly though, it was R Ramanan, the runner-up in the division-level contest who got chosen as the party's candidate for Sungai Buloh.

Sivarasa is a PKR stalwart who has been part of the party since it was known as Parti Keadilan Nasional, before its merger with Parti Rakyat Malaysia in 2003.

As for Natrah, she did not seek a position in the national party leadership but she was trounced at the election for the Sekijang PKR division chief election.

Natrah had only 17 votes while the winner Yoong Thau had 113.

Chan and Chin stayed out of the party election at the division level altogether.

Since 2008, PKR has fielded Chan in three states - Perak, Perlis and Kedah. On Oct 22, Chan publicly revealed that the party would not be fielding him again and he appeared to have taken the decision in his stride.

However, as Chan was recently appointed as the Kedah PKR strategic director, he should not be counted out just yet as he might make an appearance in the state legislative assembly election.

When contacted, Chan was not offered any state assembly seat nor was he informed why he was dropped as a candidate for any seats.

"I can only assume that I failed to fulfil some requirement (to be an MP candidate) and it would be odd if I will be considered for a state assembly seat without informing me now," he said.

Chan said the decision was abrupt and he was uncertain of his next move.

On the other hand, Chin was a former women's rights and electoral reforms activist with no obvious clout within the party.

Meanwhile, three incumbent PKR MPs will be trying their luck in new constituencies as follows:

• Anwar Ibrahim (from Port Dickson to Tambun)

• Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (from Pandan to Bandar Tun Razak)

• Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin (from Hang Tuah Jaya to Bagan Datuk)

PKR has released the names of 72 parliamentary candidates for Peninsular Malaysia last night. The list is not final as candidates for Sungai Siput and Tapah in Perak, and Sembrong in Johor are still being determined.

The party will announce its candidates for Sabah and Sarawak on Oct 31 and Nov 1, respectively.

As such, a final list of incumbents who have been dropped or retained cannot be determined conclusively at this point. - Mkini