Anwar welcomes Zaid’s challenge in Kajang

KAJANG: PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday that in the spirit of democracy, former PKR leader Zaid Ibrahim was free to contest in the Kajang state seat by-election.

“It is okay. It is part of democratic process to contest in an election,” said Anwar.

He said this after hosting a high-tea session in Penanti state representative Dr Norlela Ariffin’s house in Sungai Kantan here.

Zaid, a former law minister while he was in Umno and later the party Kita founder, announced his intention three days ago to contest in the coming by-election. In between his time in Umno and Kita, he had been in PKR but had left after the last party polls in 2010 following a fallout with Anwar and Azmin Ali.

In announcing his candidacy, Zaid said he was in the contest to ensure that Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim was not replaced by Anwar. Khalid meanwhile yesterday denied having any role in Zaid’s decision.

PKR secretary general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail however had accused Umno of being the factor behind Zaid’s decision.

He also challenged Umno to be ‘man enough’ to field its own candidate, though traditionally the seat has always been contested by MCA.

MCA’s vice president Chew Mei Fun is hotly tipped to be the BN candidate for the race while new party New-Gen Party is also expected to name its candidate by this week.

Anwars former tennis partner, KS Nallakaruppan has also offered to stand in favour of BN while a former legal aide in Anwar’s legal team in the Sodomy 2 case, Yuktes Vijay, has also indicated of his readiness to contest as an independent.

The Kajang state seat fell vacant following the resignation of incumbent assemblymen Lee Chin Cheh of PKR on Jan 27. The Election Commission fixed March 23 as polling date and nomination day on March 11. Early polling would be held on March 19.

The state seat comprises 38,965 registered voters. At the last general election in May, 2013, the seat saw a voter turnout of 87.9% with 541 spoilt votes. It has 48% Malay voters, Chinese 41%, Indian 10% and others 1%.