PBM's Santhara not on ballot in Segamat

 

GE15 | Incumbent Segamat MP Edmund Santhara Kumar does not appear to be defending his seat.

Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) announced yesterday that they would field him - but his name did not appear on the Election Commission's list of candidates today.

Pakatan Harapan's candidate for the seat R Yuneswaran told Malaysiakini that Santhara did not turn up at the nomination centre.

Santhara refused to comment when contacted. It is unclear what led to this development.

Santhara captured Segamat from then MIC president S Subramaniam in 2018 as PKR candidate.

He was among those who left the party during the Sheraton Move and subsequently joined Bersatu as an associate member.

He joined PBM - a party made up mostly of PKR defectors - in October.

He had repeatedly expressed a desire to defend Segamat, and the local Bersatu division even lobbied for Perikatan Nasional to field him in the seat yesterday.

Despite that, Santhara was reported saying today that he chose not to contest this election because he wanted to have a “cooling-off period”.

He also wanted voters to be able to compare the service record between him and the new Segamat MP.

“Cooling-off period. Let the public compare the service record between mine and the new MP. My supporters knew about the decision.

“Let the public decide. Also, the cooling period is important,” he said, as reported by The Malay Mail. - Mkini