PKR rep reluctant to defend seat due to Guan Eng’s ‘political culture’
GEORGE TOWN: DAP secretarygeneral Lim Guan Eng has been singled out as the main reason PKR assemblyman Dr Norlela Ariffin is reluctant to defend her Penanti seat in the 14th General Election.
Norlela said she felt uneasy with the opposition pact’s “political culture” allegedly instilled by Lim that required her to fight for certain things forcefully.
“I will take everything into account so that I will not make the same mistake, even though the party leadership is ready to nominate me to contest the election.
“Take, for example, the issue of sekolah agama rakyat (SAR). I’ve always urged for additional funds for SAR. But, this has not been addressed,” she said yesterday.
Norlela is among several outspoken assemblymen who had criticised the DAP-led Penang government. She is one of five PKR assemblymen who abstained from voting against a motion tabled by Barisan Nasional on land reclamation during a state assembly session in November 2015.
Following the incident, Norlela and the four other assemblymen were allegedly sidelined by the state government, with allocations for their constituencies blocked for long periods. Norlela cried during the last state assembly when she claimed that development for the people in her constituency was not heeded by the state government, resulting in the people feeling neglected.