SHAH ALAM, Nov 17 — Dr S. Streram is confident he will be nominated as PKR candidate in the upcoming Rantau state seat by-election.

He said although there were rumours that other candidates would be nominated for the seat, he believed his hard work for nearly three years in the state constituency would be taken into account by party leadership.

“I heard a lot of rumours, but I’m confident that I will be nominated.

“For the past two-and-a-half years I have been working as a coordinator in Rantau state constituency. Although I was prevented from contesting in the last 14th General Election (GE14) I still continue my efforts to help the constituents and problems they faced there,” he told Bernama at the PKR National Congress 2018 here today.

Earlier, Mohd Rafizi Ramli denied that he was the candidate for Rantau by-election, and stressed Dr Streram was the best candidate for the seat.

Dr Streram said that although he was originally from Kluang, Johor, having served in Negri Sembilan for more than 15 years as an anaesthetist had endeared him to the local population.

However, he said, even if he would not be nominated to contest in the by-election, he would accept the party’s decision and would continue to provide support to the chosen candidate.

Commenting on the opportunity to face Umno deputy president, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan in the by-election, Dr Streram was confident that he had more potential as a people’s representative for the constituency.

“I’m confident that I have much better chance, hence, he (Mohamad) did various ways to prevent me from contesting,” he said.

Yesterday, the Special Election Court ruled that Mohamad’s victory in GE14 was null and void and ordered for by-election to be held immediately.

Earlier, in the debate session during the party congress Dr Streram vowed not to squander the opportunity if he was to be given the mandate by PKR as the candidate for the by-election.

“I promise we will win the Rantau state seat and PKR will have an additional seat in Negri Sembilan, if I am given the trust to contest for the Rantau state seat,” he said. — Bernama