KAPAR FOLK UNHAPPY WITH PKR CANDIDATE
They demand Indian representative or opposition will lose their vote
ATOTAL of 50 people from Kapar, Klang, gathered at the party’s headquarters here yesterday to protest the candidacy of Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid for the Kapar parliamentary seat in Selangor, saying it is a “traditionally Indian” constituency.
The group threatened not to vote for PKR if its president, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, did not comply with the group’s demands.
G. Kalaiselvan, who claimed to be a grassroots leader of the party, said it was vital to have an Indian representing the rights of the Kapar community.
“We have no issues with Malay candidates, but the area has many temples. How will Malay candidates handle this?
“We do not want Manivanan because his office is always closed and he does not do his job well,” he said, referring to the previous representative G. Manivanan, who was replaced by Abdullah Sani.
Manivanan is contesting the Hutan Melintang state seat in Perak.
M. Tamilvanam said a Malay candidate could not represent the interests of the 17,000 Indians in the traditionally-Indian area.
“We need a representative who can read and write in Tamil as the community is mostly Tamil educated.
“We will not vote for PKR if it refuses to field an Indian candidate,” said the cultural activist.
He said there were many Indian PKR leaders besides Manivanan, such as Kepong Youth chief K. Kalai Mughilan.
M. Murali said the Indian community was sizeable and could be a deciding factor in the polls.
“Pas and Umno will field Malay candidates.
“If PKR does the same, it will split the Malay votes three ways. An edge can be obtained if we field an Indian candidate.”
He said PKR should not take the community’s support for granted.
PKR has held the seat since 2008. Previously, both Barisan Nasional and the opposition fielded Indian candidates for the constituency.
The protesters handed their memorandum of protest to PKR operations manager Nurul Huda Zainuddin under the watch of policemen.