Chua Tian Chang has broken his silence on the tussle over the Batu parliamentary seat, saying he is the most practical choice for his former constituency.
The PKR vice-president, better known as Tian Chua, told The Malaysian Insight this is because he is well-known among the constituents and has good rapport with them.
“It is up to the party to choose the candidate but for me, it would be most practical to continue to serve Batu,” he said.
“The people know me. I have not only developed a close relationship with them, there is also a lot of personal attachment to community leaders and the folks here.”
He is special adviser to Works Minister Baru Bian and also the Malaysia Productivity Corporation chairman.
Chua is back in the game after the court recently ruled that the Election Commission had erred in barring him from contesting in last year’s general election.
It also said that the former two-term Batu MP is eligible to stand in future elections.
Following the court ruling, there have been calls for the Batu MP P Prabakaran to step down to make way for a by-election in the urban seat.
However, the 23-year-old, the youngest Malaysian lawmaker, has indicated that he would prefer to serve out the term.
Prabakaran won last year as an independent on a campaign supported by PKR. He later joined the party.
PKR president Anwar Ibrahim has said there is no need for Prabakaran to relinquish the seat to make way for Chua.
Anwar said the issue is yet to be discussed by the party leadership.
“Prabakaran has a mandate from the people and we will have to respect that while Tian Chua is an important party leader,” he said.
Chua told The Malaysian Insight he would be running in the next general election but declined to respond when asked if Parabakaran should serve a full term.
“We (PKR) have to put the right candidate to serve the people. I can do that for Batu but if the party has other thoughts (other seats), we can discuss it.”
He said it is difficult to expect the inexperienced Prabakaran to provide the level of service he did.
“It requires a lot of experience to tackle the issues here. It is difficult to keep up the same level of service that I had provided.
“It is not fair to expect him, as a first-term MP, to maintain that (level of service). It requires a lot of experience.”
He said urban voters are demanding and they expect their MP to always be around to attend to their needs.
“I was here for two terms and there would have been a third (if not for the bar against him contesting).
“He has big shoes to fill. He has to know that the urban voters are more demanding.”
– TMI