Rafizi denies being PKR candidate for Rantau by-election

SHAH ALAM: Mohd Rafizi Ramli denies that he is the PKR candidate for Rantau state byelection.

Instead, the Pandan PKR chief stressed that Dr S. Streram was the best candidate for the seat.

“No, I have said specifically before the GE14 (14th General Election) that I do not wish to take part for at least two years, and I think the party understood that,” he told reporters at the 2018 PKR National Congress here.

Mohd Rafizi said this in response to the rumours that he would become a PKR candidate for Rantau seat after the Election Court in Seremban on Friday declared Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan’s victory for the Rantau state seat in GE14 as null and void and that a by-election should be held immediately.

Mohamad, who is Umno deputy president, was declared the winner after PKR candidate Dr S. Streram was denied entry to submit his nomination form on April 28 because he had no pass issued by the Election Commission (EC).

At the event earlier, PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also confirmed Mohd Rafizi’s name had been brought up as a possible candidate for the Rantau state by-election.

Meanwhile Mohd Rafizi said, Dr Streram’s efforts and campaigns including in the filing of a petition against the EC decision proved that he (Dr Streram) was most qualified to become a candidate for the seat.

“He has worked so hard on the ground, he knocked most of the doors in Rantau, so the best candidate is Dr Streram, so I think that should not be the (subject of) discussion again,” he added. - Bernama