Shamsul Iskandar more likely to be fielded than Tawfik - PKR veep

 

Gerak Independent (GI) co-founder Tawfik Ismail’s bid to be fielded as a Pakatan Harapan candidate in Bagan Datuk has come very late and is unlikely to be heeded, said PKR vice-president Chang Lih Kang.

“Since the request from Tawfik is considered a last minute one, it’s quite hard to be accepted now.

“For now, PKR is more likely to field Shamsul Iskandar in Bagan Datuk,” Chang told Malaysiakini.

Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin (above) is the incumbent Hang Tuah Jaya MP. He won the seat for PKR, defeating former Malacca chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam of BN by 8,640 votes in 2018.

Chang added that, thus far, he had not seen Tawfik make a formal request to contest against Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in Bagan Datuk under the Harapan banner.

“I don’t know if Tawfik has sent the request to any individual leaders in PKR, but at least I can tell you that the party’s central leadership has never discussed this issue,” said Chang who is one of the PKR leaders in charge of seat negotiations within Harapan.

PKR vice president Chang Lih Kang

When contacted for a response, Tawfik said that a request has already been sent to some Harapan leaders.

“So far, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang has given a positive response and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim also received it but he has not responded yet.

“We will wait for Anwar and Amanah to respond. Anwar is the one who signs the watikah authorising the candidacy.”

Tawfik said that if Harapan does not agree, he will be contesting on his own as an independent candidate in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).

On Sunday (Oct 23), Tawfik revealed that he has requested to contest under a Harapan ticket in Bagan Datuk, a parliamentary seat of which Zahid is the incumbent MP.

The son of Malaysia’s second deputy prime minister was previously an MP for the now defunct Sungai Benut constituency.

Gerak Independent’s electoral push

Tawfik said requesting to contest under Harapan is a strategy to avoid split votes between him and the coalition’s candidate in GE15.

“(This is) to avoid splitting votes in pursuing identical goals. I am offering my nomination to Harapan as a candidate under their symbol,” he said.

This came after Tawfik recently vowed to challenge Zahid in GE15.

Gerak Independent co-founder Tawfik Ismail

Earlier this year, GI announced its line-up of potential GE15 candidates for Subang, Petaling Jaya, Wangsa Maju, Kota Kinabalu, and Batu - all seats won by Harapan during the 2018 general election.

Of these seats, one belongs to DAP while the rest are PKR’s including Batu, which was won by P Prabakaran as an independent but who has since joined PKR. - Mkini