PETALING JAYA, Feb 10 — The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) announced today it will contest five parliamentary and 12 state seats in the 14th general elections (GE14).

PSM central committee member S. Arutchelvan confirmed that the party would contest the parliamentary seats of Subang, Batu Gajah, Cameron Highlands, Hulu Langat and Sungai Siput, and 12 other state seats.

When asked about whether any seat allocation was discussed with Pakatan Harapan, Arutchelvan said there have not been any official communication between them.

"They have not discussed with us officially on the matter of seat allocation.

"PSM want to avoid any three corner fights however it is unavoidable now with the split of DAP and PAS,” he said.

The 12 state seats consist of Bukit Lanjan, Jelai, Port Klang, Tronoh, Buntong, Sri Muda, Kota Lama, Kota Damansara, Menglembu, Semenyih, Jelapang, and Malim Nawar.

Arutchelvan himself will contest in the Hulu Langat parliamentary seat while Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj will defend his seat.

Its secretary-general A. Sivarajan will contest in the Subang seat, while Cameron Highland PSM’s secretary Suresh Kumar will take the seat in Pahang.

PSM’s K. Segar will contest in the Batu Gajah seat against DAP’s V. Sivakumar.

PSM will field 16 candidates in total with the exception of the Sri Muda seat, which will be contested by former Otai Reformasi member Abdul Razak Ismail under the PSM ticket, he said.

PSM chairman Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim who contested in Kota Damansara in 2013 under the PKR ticket will also return to contest in the state seat after losing in a three-corner fight between PAS Ridzuan Ismail and Barisan Nasional’s Halimaton Saadiah Bohan, which the latter won with 1,527 majority vote.

PSM is also fielding its candidate Shanmuga Sundaram in the Port Klang state seat, pitting him against former Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sr Khalid Ibrahim who is an independent after he was sacked from PKR in 2014.