SEREMBAN – Ampangan incumbent Datuk Mohamad Rafie Ab Malek who was dropped from defending the seat for PKR made a surprise appearance at the nomination centre in Seremban today.
Not only did he show up, but he filed his papers to contest as an independent candidate.
In the last general election in 2018, Rafie won the seat with a slim majority of 1,360 votes.
As the Election Commission (EC) accepted his papers, the Ampangan seat will officially see a three-cornered fight between Rafie, Bersatu’s Muhammad Ghazali Zainal Abidin for Perikatan Nasional (PN) and PKR’s Tengku Zamrah Tengku Sulaiman for Pakatan Harapan (PH).
In an immediate reaction to Rafie’s surprise decision today, PKR vice president Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said the former’s party membership is automatically revoked.
Aminuddin also warned other members that they too would face action if they supported Rafie’s move.
Previously, Rafie claimed that he was dropped from defending the seat because his presence was deemed a threat to the position of certain quarters.
He said he was shocked to find out that PKR did not want him to defend the Ampangan seat as he claimed many were aware of the efforts he made for the people in Ampangan.
Rafie alleged that a survey in Ampangan showed that a majority of people in the area still wanted him to serve as their assemblyman.
At the time, which was several days ago, he said he was working on informing party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to reevaluate the candidate choice in Ampangan. – The Vibes, July 29, 2023
