SHAH ALAM, July 22 — PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli said that the party will replace candidates for the state elections if they underperform in the run-up to nomination day.
He said this after Pakatan Harapan chairman and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced last night that PKR will field 20 candidates in Selangor, 13 in Penang, 10 in Kedah, six each in Negeri Sembilan and Kelantan, and three in Terengganu.
In his speech, Rafizi said that in the run-up to the official nomination day, the party’s leadership still has time to change the names that had been read by the party president.
He said that the leadership has been working tirelessly to campaign for the upcoming state polls and wants the named candidates to mirror their efforts.
“If these candidates are late in starting their campaigns, I will see the party president (Anwar) myself to change candidates.
“That is why we announced the candidates ahead of nomination day, we want to prevent the past from repeating,” he said.
Rafizi urged the party’s machinery to stay focused ahead of the upcoming state election that will commence on August 12.
Besides the state elections, Anwar also said that PKR will be contesting the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election after the incumbent, Perikatan Nasional (PN) Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim was forced to vacate the seat by the Election Commission (EC) due to corruption activities involved during the campaigning in the last general election (GE15).
Anwar has fielded former Indera Mahkota MP Mohd Azan Ismail to contest in the parliamentary constituency.
Two days ago, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) opened an investigation into the bribery scandal involving Kuala Terengganu seat.
