SOMEHOW similar to the disgruntlement of Klang folks who are resentful of the DAP dropping their three-term MP Charles Santiago on the rationale of “injecting new blood”, PKR’s decision to sideline incumbent three-term MP Sivarasa Rasiah has threatened to make the constituency a “safe seat” for caretaker Health Minister and incumbent Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin.
While the resentment in Klang over the selection of Kota Kemuning state assemblyman V. Ganabatirau to replace Santiago has not threatened to boil over to the extent it could trigger a ‘massive boycott’ by the Klang electorate, the same cannot be said of the Sungai Buloh constituency.
A friction in the form of differing opinion between PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who favours ‘unknown outsider’ Datuk Ramanan Ramakrishnan and his deputy Rafizi Ramli seems to be brewing with the former attributing Sivarasa’s “ailing health” as the reason he overruled Rafizi who had wanted to retain the 65-year-old lawyer-cum-human rights activist.
Utusan Malaysia has cited the Opposition leader as saying that allowing a frail looking Sivarasa to campaign could have dampened Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) chances in GE15.
In Rafizi’s contention, a complex and lengthy discussion was held to determine the most suitable candidate for PH in the Sungai Buloh Parliamentary seat with Anwar who has the last say preferring to drop Sivarasa.
“On Wednesday (Nov 2), I relayed the feedback from voters (in Sungai Buloh) so that the candidacy can be reconsidered, but I respect the president’s view that it was better to retain the candidate announced (Ramanan) so that on-going campaign efforts can continue,” he told a media conference at the PKR headquarters here yesterday (Nov 3).
With Ramanan who is PKR deputy information chief carrying some ‘political baggage’ and the very fact that Sungai Buloh has 70% of Malay voters, it is no wonder that UMNO deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan described the constituency as a “safe seat” for Khairy.
“The Sungai Buloh UMNO division chief is Khairy’s political secretary (Datuk Megat Firdouz Megat Junid). UMNO there welcomes him, it is better to go there than go somewhere that people do not accept him,” Mohamad who himself is contesting in Rembau during GE15 told reporters after handing over candidate documents to Negeri Sembilan BN candidates yesterday (Dec 3).
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very safe seat because the people there want a candidate from UMNO … I’m sure Khairy will excel.”
Back to Ramanan who was a former MIC treasurer-general, it has to be recalled that he was once involved in a fraud case where he was ordered to return RM5.5 mil to a psychiatrist. – Nov 3, 2022
