PAS SAYS NO TO HIDRAF'S UTHAYAKUMAR

Pas says 'no' to Hindraf's Uthayakumar

KUALA LUMPUR: Pas says it will not consent Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) de facto leader P.Uthayakumar to contest under its banner for the Kota Raja parliamentary seat in the upcoming general election.

 

Speaking to The Mole Pas information chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the party has decided that it will contest in seats it won in the 2008 polls by fielding party candidates and that included Kota Raja seat won by Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud.

 

“Pas has decided that the party will keep its winning seats and since Dr Siti won it in 2008, she will again be fielded as our candidate for the seat,” Tuan Ibrahim said.

 

Dr Siti Mariah won with 20,751 majority votes against Barisan Nasional's MIC in 2008.

 

Tuan Ibrahim was commenting on reports quoting Uthayakumar who had expressed interest in contesting the Kota Raja seat under the Pas banner.

 

“They said they would field non-Muslims as Pas candidates in the general election. As such, I am prepared to stand as a Pas candidate,” Uthayakumar was quoted as saying in a news report.

 

Failing which, the human rights lawyer said he was willing to contest as an independent and is determined to win the majority of the Indian votes as well as the Chinese's.

 

To this Tuan Ibrahim said: “Pas will field non-Muslims as election candidates but the priority will be given to our Supporters’ Congress leaders.”

 

“There is no official application from Uthayakumar on this matter too thus we cannot say for certain whether he will be allowed to contest (under Pas's banner) or not,” he added.

 

Pas vice-president Salahuddin Ayub when contacted said Uthayakumar should meet up with Pas's top leadership if he is interested to contest under the party's banner.

 

“If he (Uthayakumar) wants to be a Pas candidate, he should come to us and seek an appointment to talk about it with our leaders," the Kubang Kerian MP said.

 

“I don’t want to jump the gun...if he is really interested there must be a discussion between Pas leaders and Uthayakumar and we will take it from there,” he added.

 

Commenting on remarks made by Pas Supporters' Congress president Hu Pang Chow who said that Uthayakumar will not be able to contest as he is not part of the PSC, Salahuddin said, “Officially what Hu Pang Chow said is right...priority will be given to PSC members.”

 

“But he (Uthayakumar) has the right to express himself and Pas remains open about it,” he stated.

 

Meanwhile, it was reported that a meeting will be held between Hindraf leaders and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak over its proposal today. 

Source: MOLE