AMPANG – It is a party decision to drop certain incumbents from the 15th general election (GE15) line-up, including Sg Buloh’s Sivarasa Rasiah, said PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli.
“Well, it was a deliberation at the committee level, and then we shortlisted a few names and the final decision was discussed.
“So, I think we’ve gone through the process and so on. It is a party’s decision,” he said after last night’s PKR event at Padang MPAJ here where a slew of candidates was revealed.
It was announced that Ramanan Ramakrishnan will be fielded for Sg Buloh instead. There is speculation that Umno’s Khairy Jamaluddin will contest for that seat as well.
Sivarasa has been a three-term MP since 2008. He won Subang in 2008 and 2013. The Sg Buloh constituency was created after the 2018 redelineation exercise. In 2018, he won with a 26,634-vote majority.
Similarly, PKR has also opted not to field Petaling Jaya incumbent MP Maria Chin Abdullah. Lee Chean Chung will be running for that seat instead.
Rafizi said Lee “fits the bill” of what is required by the party and it is intended for Lee to be groomed for a leadership role.
Maria won Petaling Jaya with a 57,137-vote majority in 2018.
However, Rafizi did not mince his words when asked about PKR member Ginie Lim’s lobbying to contest for the Alor Gajah parliamentary seat.
“You must be kidding me because she doesn’t have a say. Ginie wants to contest in Alor Gajah, which has never been a PKR seat.
“I mean, she is really making noise and it’s really counterproductive. She is making noise because she thinks that I didn’t get the seat for her. That’s a bit ridiculous.”
Previously, Lim had requested for PKR to allow her to contest the seat.
She also cited that she has support from Alor Gajah grassroots to do so. – The Vibes, October 29, 2022
