Last-minute lobbying going on in PKR

Party members vying for seats amid preparations for upcoming polls

KLANG: Intense last-minute lobbying is taking place within PKR as the party prepares to announce its candidates for the coming general election.

It’s most intense in Selangor, where sources say several incumbents will be dropped.

“What we know so far is that Kapar MP M. Manivanan is expected to be dropped and replaced by Sri Andalas assemblyman Dr Xavier Jayakumar,” said a source.

He added that several candidates, including Dr Xavier’s daughter Sangeetha, his aide Jastin Raj and two more young Kota Raja division members were vying for the Sri Andalas state seat.

The source also said that another incumbent likely to be dropped was Ijok assemblyman Dr Idris Ahmad.

He said there was talk that Dr Idris would move to Kuala Lumpur and contest for the Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat, which is currently held by former mentri besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

“But it looks like Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah will contest in Bandar Tun Razak,” he said.

Saifuddin, the former Temerloh MP, crossed over to PKR from Umno in 2015.

If so, this will leave Dr Idris out in the cold and bring his 10-year polit- ical stint to a halt.

Selayang MP William Leong is also likely to be dropped and his place given to current Rawang assemblyman Gan Pei Ni.

“Leong is unhappy over certain things, especially the continued existence of PAS in the Selangor administration,” said the source.

Leong also resigned from the PKR political bureau as a mark of protest over this issue.

However, his supporters are demanding that Leong be retained to defend his seat.

The party had also identified Selayang division deputy chief Gunaraj George for the Ijok seat.

However, PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin is pushing for one of her protégés, lawyer Sivamalar Genapathy – who has far less political exposure and experience than Gunaraj – to contest the seat.

Seri Setia assemblyman and state executive councilor Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad will also move from a state to a parliament seat and will contest in Setiawangsa.

“We heard that party communications director Fahmi Fadzil will contest in Seri Setia,” he said.

He added that PKR deputy president and Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, who is currently overseas and will be back at the end of the week, would probably be the one to announce the names of candidates in the state.

When contacted, Fahmi said state-level seat negotiations were still ongoing.

“We are still in the process of candidate selection,” he said, adding that the announcement would only be made after it had been settled.

It looks like Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah will contest in Bandar Tun Razak. Source