Former PKR Vice-President Urges Party to Listen to Reaction of Voters Before Shuffling MPs ‘Like Cards’

The upcoming 15th General Election has seen a shuffling by various political parties in terms of the selected candidates to fight for their seat in certain constituencies.

Certain incumbent MPs have been dropped whilst new ones have been introduced.

This has led to former PKR vice-president Tian Chua to warn PKR’s move to drop several MPs ahead of GE15 could hurt the party when the election comes by.

In a Facebook post, Tian Chua wrote, “I watched from afar the Keadilan rally held in Ampang last night. It was an exciting event for party members from all over the country. The climax of the night was the announcement of candidates representing the party for GE15.”

“As I am not currently part of the party’s leadership, I am not privy to the detailed process of selection of candidates. Certainly any form of selection would not satisfy everyone. It is understandable. However, I think the list of candidates should have been more inclusive in order to reflect the diversity within the party,” he said.

“After the announcement, there are many people who are disappointed with some of the choices of candidates. It is accepted that there will never be a perfect system for the selection of candidates. Yet the party must be very mindful and cannot afford to ignore voters’ reaction and sentiment, especially during the election season.”

Meanwhile, he also reminded all candidates that their responsibility is to speak up for their constituency and to represent the voters interests.

“Don’t treat the voters in the constituency as a ticket to the parliament (or power). MP is not a privileged class, but servants of the people. As MP, we live among the voters and the community is a part of our life,” he wrote.

The former Batu MP said that one of the core criteria for choosing candidacy is the ability to build strong connections with the constituency.

“My biggest fear is that this quality is slowly missing among our legislators. When MPs and seats are shuffled like cards, it is not only hurting the party’s grassroots, it also frustrates the voters who have been faithfully supporting us. While we are marching to attack our opponents, we must also be on guard not to lose our base.”

Do you agree with his statements? Could it do more harm to the party than good?

Also read: Klang MP Slams Party Hierarchy For Removing Him From His Candidacy