KUALA LUMPUR – Former PKR vice-president Tian Chua, who was overlooked to contest in the coming general election, has claimed that its selection of candidates is not reflective of the diversity within the party.
Speaking out following yesterday’s announcement of the party’s choices to stand in the 15th general election (GE15), the former Batu MP reminded PKR not to lose its base.
He warned that the arbitrary swapping of MPs risks provoking voters’ ire.
“Certainly any form of selection would not satisfy everyone. It is understandable. However, I think the list of candidates should have been more inclusive in order to reflect the diversity within the party.
“After the announcement, there are many people who are disappointed with some of the choices of candidates.
“It is accepted that there will never be a perfect system for the selection of candidates. Yet the party must be very mindful and cannot afford to ignore voters’ reaction and sentiment, especially during the election season,” he said.
Chua pointed out that one of the core criteria for choosing candidates should be the person’s ability to build strong connections with constituents, a quality he said is “slowly missing” from the party’s legislators.
“When MPs and seats are shuffled like cards, it is not only hurting the party’s grassroots, it also frustrates the voters who have been faithfully supporting us.
“While we are marching to attack our opponents, we must also be on guard not to lose our base,” he said in a Facebook posting early this morning.
While not specifying what he meant, Chua was possibly referring to the fact that many of those who are not aligned to party deputy president Rafizi Ramli were not picked, as per the announcement last night.
Among the big names that have been dropped are former PKR vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah, Maria Chin Abdullah, and Chan Ming Kai, who respectively won the Sg Buloh, Petaling Jaya, and Alor Star seats in the previous general election.
Chua himself was overlooked for the Batu constituency, which will instead be defended by the incumbent, P. Prabakaran.
All these names were previously allies to party renegade Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, and later aligned themselves with PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail against Rafizi’s faction in the latest party polls.
Rafizi had said last night that the decision to drop these names was jointly made by the party, taking into consideration multiple factors.
Offering his advice to newly nominated candidates, Chua said it should be their responsibility to speak up for their constituencies and to represent voters’ interests.
“Don’t treat the voters in the constituency as a ticket to Parliament (or power). MPs are not a privileged class, but servants of the people.
“As (an) MP, we live among the voters and the community is a part of our life,” he said. – The Vibes, October 29, 2022
