The upcoming general elections have started to see some immediate causalities and this includes YB Charles Santiago who is the MP for Klang for the last 3 terms. And looking at the list of possible candidates, not all candidates are standing in the same seat as the one that they won in the last election. Is this a new strategy from PH in facing BN & PN in the coming general elections? Image source: Malaysiakini
Read these first:-
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- Governance 101: Enforcing Code of Ethics for Bad Politicians
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I think we will never know the actual reason why there have been calls for YB Santiago to step down from his post as the MP for Klang since 2013 since the reasons may backfire on Pakatan Harapan in the upcoming general elections.
Dropping YB Charles Santiago
It is something when senior politicians who are very much respected decides to run for other Parliamentary seat but it is a mystery when the party decides to drop them for the general elections without any valid reasons.
Selangor DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo said today that Charles Santiago knew he would not be standing for re-election in Klang during the coming general election (GE15).
In a brief statement, Gobind said that he told the incumbent Klang MP in 2018, when the latter had sought his support for his candidature, that the 14th general election (GE14) would be his last run for the constituency.
“It was clear then that there were calls for him to be replaced. I supported him nevertheless and he was given the opportunity to carry on.
“In 2018, I did say to him that it would be difficult for him to carry on after that and that 2018 would be the last,” Gobind said.
(Source: Malay Mail)
Even this statement from YB Gobind Singh on why YB Charles Santiago was dropped from running in the general elections does not make any sense considering that YB Charles has now come out and told that there was no such conversation had taken place.
STATEMENT:
Please don’t tarnish my integrity to manage backlash
Let me make this clear: the Democratic Action Party (DAP) never informed me that 2018 would be the last time I would be fielded as a candidate.
Read the whole thread 👇 pic.twitter.com/oBrz4QG1DB
— Charles Santiago (@mpklang) October 28, 2022
So what is the real reason why a seasoned politician like YB Charles Santiago is dropped from running in the general elections at all?
Is it because it has been too long (15 years) that he had held on to the same seat and the voters are not feeling easy with him holding on for another 5 years? Is it because he has made sensitive statements and this has not gone well with others? Or is this part of the overall Pakatan Harapan strategy for this general election to shakedown from top to bottom and shuffle politicians between the state and federal levels?
To be frank, his replacement for the seat, the current state assemblyman, YB Ganabatirau was in the thick of the action when there was a major flood in Sri Muda and there have not been any serious allegations against him.
As Taman Sri Muda in Shah Alam is still inundated with flood waters, netizens were reminded of Selangor exco V. Ganabatirau’s tirade against the state Drainage and Irrigation Department (JPS) during a visit to the flood-prone area in October.https://t.co/p7FqgPZ7c0
— Focus Malaysia (@FocusMalaysiaMY) December 20, 2021
Pakatan Harapan is working with MUDA again despite their record of non-commital in the last state elections. One of the MUDA branches even came out with this poster which went viral on social media and receive massive criticism from netizens. Image source: Twitter
MUDA In, PSM Out
One has to be aware of MUDA considering that they decided to run for the same seat as Pakatan in the last state elections despite agreeing with the Pakatan component party to run as a partner.
And yet, Pakatan decided to forge another partnership with MUDA but instead decided to drop the partnership with PSM who they last worked together in 2013 which saw YB Dr. Michael Jeyakumar running for PKR’s seat.
The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) has called off its electoral pact with Pakatan Harapan after accusing the coalition of refusing to allocate it with even a single seat to contest in the 15th general election.
PSM deputy chairman S. Arutchelvan said his party had initially asked that former Sungai Siput MP Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj be allowed to recontest the seat, but would have accepted any three non-incumbent constituencies for the November 19 poll.
Arutchelvan criticised PH for only informing his party so close to nomination day, and noted that PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli had said as recently as yesterday that three seats have been allocated to the former’s party as well as Muda to contest in GE15.
(Source: Malay Mail)
It is rumored that the talk between Pakatan and PSM fell when PSM insisted on running for the Sungai Siput seat which was last won by PKR’s YB Kesavan Subramaniam in 2018 and YB Dr. Michael Jeyakumar lost contesting as independent. It is obvious that the voters are keener on the political party than the politician himself when deciding who they will be voting for.
The good old days when Tian Chua was disqualified from running in the 2018 general elections and the whole Pakatan Harapan’s support swung over to a very young law student who was standing as an independent. Presently Prabakaran is the current youngest MP at an age of 26 years old. Image source: The Edge Markets
Dropped From PKR List
There were politicians dropped from PKR as well and all indication on why seems to point that they were pro-Azmin Ali who was one of the masterminds of the Sheraton Move in 2020 that saw the fall of the Pakatan Harapan Government:-
PKR’s controversial decision to omit several notable former MPs from the 15th general election (GE15) may plunge the party into another crisis.
According to Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir, the dropping of former MPs such as Maria Chin Abdullah (Petaling Jaya) and R Sivarasa (Sungai Buloh) would leave their supporters “disillusioned”, especially as the former parliamentarians were “credible and very effective”.
Apart from Maria and Sivarasa, Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani), Natrah Ismail (Sekijang), June Leow (Hulu Selangor), Tan Yee Kiew (Wangsa Maju), Dr Lee Boon Chye (Gopeng), and Chan Ming Kai (Alor Setar) will also not be defending their seats for PKR. It is understood Lee and Tan had previously informed the party they planned to retire after their current term.
Among those who had expressed disappointment with the decision not to include the former MPs in GE15 was former PKR vice-president Tian Chua.
(Source: Free Malaysia Today)
Personally, I understand how Tian Chua feels about PKR not nominating him for the Batu parliamentary seat which he won in 2008 & 2013. Then he got disqualified from running in the 2018 general elections which saw a swing of support for the opposition to an unknown, young independent named Prabakaran. Ironically Prabakaran is now the Batu PKR division chief which he had won against Tian Chua.
PKR Family Issue
Despite dropping some prominent names from the PKR candidate list, the fact that Anwar Ibrahim also decided to nominate his own wife to run for the parliamentary seat is rather questionable. After all, he already has his daughter, Nurul Izzah running for his old parliamentary seat in Permatang Pauh.
PKR will field former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in the Bandar Tun Razak constituency for the 15th General Election (GE15).
A source told the New Straits Times that Dr Wan Azizahs name was on the list to contest for the said seat previously held by Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar, a former PKR man who quit and joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
The source added that PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was initially set to contest in the Bandar Tun Razak seat.
Bandar Tun Razak was one of the places that opened its door for Anwar. However, he made the decision last week to go to Tambun instead, the source added.
(Source: NST)
The question is how effective and vocal Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has been as a Member of Parliament. Frankly speaking, one did not see any major breakthrough from her on major issues in the country. In fact, as the Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development during the Pakatan Harapan rule, she did not much to resolve the child marriage mess.
Final Say
As of the point of this post, not all the seats allocated for the Parliament have been announced as there are still ongoing tussles and negotiations on who can run for those seats. To make things worse, the announcements have been on a piecemeal basis and by state so it is not the right time to look at the Pakatan’s consolidated list for the upcoming general elections. Candidates that have been named may still be shuffled until the nomination day.
To be continued…