MIRI – PKR’s move to axe Dr Michael Teo, the party’s two-term Miri incumbent from its list of candidates for the 15th general election, and to introduce up to 12 new faces has been touted as the start of bold and drastic changes aimed at renewing the party’s Sarawak division renewal.
Sarawak PKR deputy chairman Abun Sui Anyit has described these moves as marking the start of the renewal process.
He said the new candidates have not participated in any public election before, and a number of them are young.
“Yes, it is a drastic move for the party president to drop Dr Teo who was incumbent MP with two terms of experience,” he said in an interview with The Vibes.
“It is also a very bold move by the party leadership at state and national levels to introduce 12 new faces as PKR candidates for the 16 parliamentary constituencies we will contest for on behalf of Pakatan Harapan (PH).”
“We seniors in the party will back them up and hopefully, we will do well in the seats we are contesting to help PKR and PH at the national level to form the next federal government,” Sui said.
When asked why Dr Teo was suddenly omitted by party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim – despite that he had already started his pre-election campaign in Miri – Sui said it is best for Dr Teo himself to explain, if he wishes to do so.
When contacted by The Vibes about whether Anwar had given any specific reasons for dropping him, Dr Teo said: “Sorry, I cannot comment yet. I may issue a press statement only tomorrow.”
Anwar arrived in Sarawak yesterday for a quick pre-election tour of Kuching and Miri.
After meeting with state PKR leaders in Miri yesterday evening, he announced that Dr Teo would be replaced by state PKR youth chief Chiew Choon Man, 31, who is a lawyer.
Without disclosing the reason for removing Dr Teo, Anwar simply said PKR is giving chances to young, capable members to climb up the ladder in the party and make inroads in public politics.
Meanwhile, state PKR chairman Roland Engan will be the party candidate for Baram while Abun will vie for Hulu Rajang.
The party will contest 16 of the 31 parliamentary seats in this state.
During the last general election in 2018, Dr Teo was the only PKR candidate who won among the 16 fielded candidates in the state.
He won by defeating Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Sebastian Ting of SUPP by a majority of nearly 14,000 votes.
SUPP was then part of BN but it left the coalition and joined some other Sarawak BN parties to form Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in 2019.
For GE15, Sarawak PKR will contest using the Pakatan Harapan logo. – The Vibes, November 2, 2022
