PSM gets thumbs up from Semenyih folk
Posted: 5:29 pm, April 14, 2013 by editor
KUALA LUMPUR, April 13: Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) S Arutchelvan has decided to re-contest the Semenyih state assembly seat in the 13th General Election (GE13), which is to be held on May 5th.
The
PSM secretary-general,who had failed to win a seat in the 2008
election, has put his disappointments behind and has made up his mind to
contest the state seat in the coming election under the PSM party
banner.
What’s
blocking his way is Pakatan Rakyat (PR) de facto leader, Datuk Seri
Anwar’s insistence that the party contest using the PKR banner
Anwar
has not given the green light for PSM yet to contest under its own
banner, claiming that thelogo will confuse and split the votes in favour
of BN.
The Malaysian Times (TMT) conducted a survey among the Semenyih voters to get their views on this contentious issue.
G. Gopalakrishnan, a lorry driver, 55, said that he is aware that the PSM is a PR’s party component.
“Ofcourse, we all know that PSM is under Pakatan,” he said.
On
the support for PSM, he said that the party has strong support in
Semenyih but there are higher chances for BN, if PR and PSM compete for
the seat at the same time.
“The
PSM needs a strong platform to contest, while PR needs a winnable
candidate to win the seat. Both parties have to come up with a win-win
deal,” he suggested.
Gopalakrishnan
said that, Arutchelvan is a social worker and a well-known figure among
the people in Semenyih and he has a very good chance to win with a big
majority.
“If
Arul (Arutchelvan) contest against BN candidate one on one, 70 per cent
of Indian votes will go for him,” Gopalakrishnan said.
He said that the people of Semenyih are ready for a change and want to see what the opposition has to do for the community.
“Whether
the opposition will deliver or not the promises is secondary. Let’s see
what they can do. If there are no changes, we (rakyat) will change the
leaders in the next election. It is time for people power and the
country to move towards a democratic nation,” he said.
Annuar,
an employee in the private sector, 40, opined that the internal
conflicts among PR party components will only weaken the opposition.
“Many
of the people in Semenyih are backing the opposition but the party‘s
indecision when choosing seats and candidates will weaken their chances
in the coming election,” he said.
Annuar
said that, as there is no unity in the opposition while the Barisan
Nasional has a higher chance to win the Semenyih state seat.
On
whether the candidate’s race will be a factor for the voters, Annuar
said that, “Race will never be a factor. Voters now are very mature and
are politically aware and we know how and who will be the correct choice
regardless the person’s racial background.”
Meanwhile,
retired Telekom technician, V. Krishnasamy, 70, said that he is well
aware of the PSM party’s work over the past five years.
“I know the party is under Pakatan Rakyat,” he said.
Krishnasamy
said that, the party is very good in looking at the people’s problems
and it has the support of the people from all races in Semenyih.
“Many of my Malay and Chinese friends are strong supporters of the party,” he said.
When
asked on Arutchelvan’s candidacy, Krishnasamy said that, “He is a very
vibrant person and very helpful for the society. He will be a good
choice of candidate here.”
During the past election, Arutchelvan lost to Datuk Johan Abdul Aziz, of Barisan Nasional (BN), by a majority of 1,140 votes.
Johan polled 11,588 votes to Arutchelvan’s10,448.
The party is scheduled to meet Anwar, the opposition leader, on Sunday to settle seat allocation for the PSM. -TMT
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