With former elected representative Chua Tian Chang eyeing a comeback in the Batu constituency, its incumbent P Prabakaran said he would leave it to the party leadership to decide the right candidate for the constituency for the next general election.
Prabakaran, who won the urban seat as a PKR-backed independent in the last general election and subsequently joined the party, said he is a “party man” and would obey any decision made by the leadership.
“The party has enough capable people to analyse, research and decide.
“So, I will let the party decide and I‘m okay with anything as long as the party discusses (the decision) with me.
“I’m a party man and I’ll follow the party’s decision,” he told The Malaysian Insight as uncertainty surrounds his future as an elected representative.
Chua, better known as Tian Chua, was ineligible to contest the seat during the 14th general election (GE14) due to his court conviction.
As a result, independent candidate Prabakaran was “adopted” by PKR as its candidate, resulting in the then 22-year-old law student to win handsomely.
However, the relationship between Prabakaran and Tian Chua did not remain smooth for long, with the latter claiming he would be returning as Batu MP.
Last month, Prabakaran defeated incumbent Tian Chua by 211 votes in the party election to become the new Batu division chief.
Despite his loss, Tian Chua is confident of being fielded in the constituency in the next general election.
“It’s not true that my loss means I will not be fielded in the Batu parliamentary seat by PKR. I am quite sure I will return to contest there during GE15,” the PKR vice-president was quoted as saying by FMT.
Prabakaran did not respond to Tian Chua’s statement but simply said the party “should know and understand”.
He claimed that people in Batu are very much inclined towards supporting him because they see him as the MP who is always on the ground helping them no matter what.
He said that is among the reasons he won the party’s division election.
“The party should understand that we have put a lot of work in Batu.
“People in Batu look for me even for small matters. I agree that I’m someone who is always on the ground.
“That shows the grassroots trusts me, and it is also the reason I won the party election,” he said.
Prabakaran said he is still undecided on contesting in the next election.
“I haven’t decided if I want to contest or not. Not like I’m so mati-mati (desperate) to contest.
“But if I do, it will be for the people,” he said. – TMI