Hulu Selangor: PKR to decide later this week

Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim said Pakatan Rakyat will decide later this week on the candidate who will contest in the Hulu Selangor by-election.

Khalid, who is also the state Parti Keadilan Rakyat chairman, said, however, the final call would be left to the PR central committee.

“The strategy is to discuss the issue with the coalition members. Since the late Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad was from PKR, we will field a candidate.

‘We would also like to know the candidate and study the situation before making an announcement.”

He, however, declined to confirm if the candidate would be a Malay or others.

“We don’t want to discuss that for fear that it will be an opportunity for our rival Barisan Nasional to spin lies.

So we will not announce it,” he said.

He also declined to speculate on whether the potential candidate would be from the same constituency.

On whether Kapar MP S Manikavasagam had proposed any individuals as candidate, Khalid said:
“I don’t know. I have not discussed it with him (Manikavasagam). He is also a member of the PKR central committee; he has a right to voice his opinion but not in public but in the central committee meeting,” he said.

“All PKR members are allowed to submit their suggestion, but whether it is is accepted will be discussed at the PKR central committee meeting,” he added.

Zainal Abidin passed away on Thursday from brain tumour. In the March 2008 general election, he wrested the parliamentary constituency from MIC deputy president G Palanivel with a 198-vote majority.

The MIC has already submitted Palanivel’s name to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak as candidate for the Hulu Selangor seat.

However, Hulu Selangor Umno is dead set against the idea, preferring to see the return of Umno veteran and former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Taib Muhammad.

It is rumoured that PKR is considering fielding central committee member Zaid Ibrahim.

Zaid, who was responsible for engineering PR’s Common Policy Framework, is currently the only key PKR leader not in Parliament or Senate.

According to the Election Commission, the Hulu Selangor constituency had 65,058 voters based on the electoral roll certified in December last year.

by FMT