.JPG "Parti Rakyat Malaysiau00e2u20acu2122s candidate for the Port Dickson by-election, Ahmad Kamarudin speaks during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur September 27, 2018. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Mukhriz Hazim")
Former PKR-turned-PRM member Ahmad Kamarudin, 42, will be contesting against his former leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on October 13.
Ahmad said he felt compelled to contest out of pity towards the constituents who are being “forced” to go through another poll to satisfy Anwar’s political ambition.
“To me, the instruction to vacate the parliamentary seat was a weak way for Anwar to pave his political return.
“This is Anwar’s third by-election. This just demonstrates his greed and impatience to get back into power,” he told a press conference here today.
This was announced by PRM information chief Tan Kang Yap at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall earlier.
Ahmad, who previously led the PKR Youth wing in Kapar from 2011 to 2014, said he is not intimidated by Anwar’s seniority and stature in the national political arena.
“If this were football, Anwar and I are both foreign players playing on someone else’s field. So we stand the same chance,” the Pahang-born said, pointing out Anwar’s Permatang Pauh origin.
“I am not at all nervous because I have previously fought against Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, who is also a strong candidate, for the Bukit Antarabangsa state seat on May 9.”
Commenting on the multi-cornered fight, Ahmad said PAS should sit out the by-election to make way for PRM and PKR to fight it out.
“I am not concerned with the independent candidate and we know how PAS has no strong principles. They waver, always. So just sit this one out.
“Let PRM and PKR battle this one out for old times’ sake,” he said, referring to the addition of the colour red to PKR’s party flag which derived from PRM’s signature logo after the 1999 polls.
The by-election was called after its incumbent Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah vacated the seat on Sept 12 to allow PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s return to Dewan Rakyat.
Anwar is up against Ahmad, independent candidate Stevie Chan and a still unannounced PAS runner.
Barisan Nasional said on Tuesday it was boycotting the poll, dubbing it “forced and wasteful”.
The Election Commission set polling for October 13 and nominations on Sept 29, with early voting on Oct 9.
The constituency has 75,770 voters. It is also PKR’s only parliamentary seat out of the five in the state.
