Candidates at odds over reason for by-polls
SEREMBAN: A war of words has erupted between Pakatan Harapan’s Dr S. Streram and independent candidate R. Malar Rajaram over why the Rantau by-election was called.
Dr Streram said Malar Rajaram blamed him for “triggering” the by-election after he failed to produce a pass to enter the Rantau nomination centre during the last general election.
This eventually led to Barisan Nasional’s sole candidate Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan being declared the winner.
Dr Streram said Malar should be grateful for being given the opportunity to contest.
He will be involved in a four-cornered fight, including against Mohamad, for the Rantau state seat on April 13.
“I think she should have remained in Canada where she stayed for 25 years because she doesn’t know what she is talking about.
“If I had been negligent, why did the court nullify Mohamad’s win and order a by-election?” he asked when met while on his campaign rounds here yesterday.
Malar returned to Rantau from Canada in 2016 to take care of her ailing mother.
She was a radio presenter in Toronto for 15 years.
During her visit at the wet market earlier, she said Dr Streram should apologise to the constituents for inconveniencing them by having to vote again.
“He was careless for not collecting his pass like all other candidates during the last elections.
“How can an individual serve his constituents effectively when he can’t even do a simple thing like collect his pass?” she asked.
Malar said despite not being backed by party machinery, she managed to collect her candidate pass without any hassle.
Other than Mohamad and Malar, Dr Streram will also be facing another independent candidate, Mohd Nor Yassin.
On a separate matter, Dr Streram said he was confident of a victory although he admitted the turnouts at Pakatan’s ceramah were not as large as he had expected.
He claimed that he will be able to get between 70% and 80% of the non-Malay votes, and between 20% and 30% of the Malay votes.
He also said he has helped many poor constituents in Rantau despite not being an elected representative.
“Many people who went to Mohamad’s service centre for help were disappointed and it was me who helped them with their problems, although I was not a wakil rakyat,” he claimed.