Social activists Ambiga, Maria Chin to contest in GE14?

KUALA LUMPUR: Speculation is rife that two social activists will make their debut as candidates for Pakatan Harapan in the 14th General Election (GE14).

These two individuals, Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and her predecessor, Maria Chin Abdullah, had in the past quashed rumours that they were jumping onto the opposition political bandwagon.

Sources within the opposition pact said the duo would be running as candidates under the PKR banner in GE14 and that their potential candidacy was discussed in recent meetings.

“Both agreed in principle to being fielded as candidates.

“They have been offered parliamentary seats and accepted their nominations. But, they would rather be fielded as PKR candidates.

“If all goes according to earlier talks, Maria may be contesting the Batu or Petaling Jaya Selatan seats, while Ambiga may be fielded in Kapar or Segamat,” the source said.

However, the source added that the final decision on where they would be fielded had yet to be made, saying that Pakatan needed time “to convince its branches” to accept the activists as their candidates.

Another source said: “Looks like Ambiga will most likely be contesting against Subra (MIC president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam), who could be (contesting again) the Segamat seat.”

Dr Subramaniam retained the Segamat parliamentary seat after he edged PKR’s Datuk Chua Jui Meng by a 1,217-vote majority in the last polls.

In 2008, Dr Subramaniam defeated DAP’s Pang Hok Liong with a 2,971-vote majority.

Rumours about Ambiga contesting in GE14 had surfaced since the 2013 general election. The lawyer had consistently dismissed the rumours.

When asked again via WhatsApp, she replied: “It’s just a rumour!”

Maria, when posed the same question over the phone, laughed.

“Oh really? That’s nice, but no, I am not contesting,” she said.

Kapar member of parliament G. Manivanan said he would be defending his seat, adding that he had the blessings of PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, whom Manivanan said had told him “to continue with his duties in Kapar”.

Manivanan also alluded that Ambiga was not the party’s candidate for Segamat.

“Pakatan has already agreed on a candidate, and that individual has been going to the ground for more than a year now,” he said.