Batu seat: 6 and counting, Tian Chua gets poetic

 

The race for the Batu parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur, which has an estimated 112,000 voters, is turning into a crowded affair.

In the latest count, there are five confirmed candidates and another who has expressed interest - social media influencer Nur Fathiah Syazwana or better known as Cleopatra.

Nur Fathiah Syazwana

Pakatan Harapan, which is the incumbent, announced that it is fielding P Prabakaran, who won the seat as an independent in the 2018 polls and later joined PKR.

His predecessor, Tian Chua, who was hoping to make a comeback was left disappointed.

This morning, he posted a message expressing both hope and despair on Facebook, which raised eyebrows.

Among others, it spoke of “being banished to the world of fallen souls” but assured friends that it was “not a road of no return.”

However, it also indicated that he might “never come home” and “maybe you will find me buried amongst the woods and rocks.”

Chua became a symbol of rebellion during the Reformasi era, when he was photographed sitting in front of an advancing Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) vehicle during a protest then, which was evocative of the “Tank Man” who stood before a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square.

After joining PKR, he rose up the ranks to become vice-president but fell out of favour with Anwar Ibrahim and party supporters when he was seen as aligned to Azmin Ali, the former PKR number two whose defection contributed to the collapse of the Harapan government.

Chua was the Batu MP for two terms from 2008 to 2018 but was disqualified from contesting in 2018 due to the Shah Alam High Court imposing a RM2,000 fine.

This prompted him to back Prabakaran as Harapan’s proxy in that year’s election.

Although confident of still having the support of Batu voters, Chua’s plan of returning to Parliament hit an unexpected snag when Prabakaran defeated him for the Batu PKR division chief post in May this year.

Last night, BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that MIC’s A Kohilan Pillay (above) would represent the coalition in the seat but this morning, MCA president Wee Ka Siong claimed otherwise.

Perikatan Nasional, on the other hand, would be fielding Azhar Yahya from PAS, who is an expert in Islamic jurisprudence..

Batu is also one of the seats chosen by Sabah’s Warisan, which is seeking to expand its political influence across the South China Sea.

This was also the site where Warisan president Shafie Apdal held his maiden ceramah in the Peninsular, urging voters to step out of their comfort zone and assuring them that Malaysia would not perish without Anwar, Gerakan Tanah Air pro tem chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin.

Meanwhile, Batu would also witness lawyer and human rights activist Siti Kassim making her electoral debut.

It remains to be seen if others would join the fray on nomination day this Saturday to vie for the seat, which has 43 percent Malay voters, Chinese 30 percent, Indians 20 percent and others, seven percent. - Mkini