Pay RM5mil if you jump, PKR candidates told
To curb defections that have been haunting the party post the 2008 general election, PKR has made it compulsory for all its candidates, at both parliamentary and state levels, to compensate the party with RM5 million should they jump to another once elected.
To curb defections that have been haunting the party post the 2008 general election, PKR has made it compulsory for all its candidates, at both parliamentary and state levels, to compensate the party with RM5 million should they jump to another once elected.
"After receiving the appointment letter, if any candidate withdraws before nomination (day) or jumps ship (after they have been elected), they have to compensate RM5 million to the party. (Therefore,) they have to sign an Akujanji letter," said PKR deputy secretary-general Steven Choong (
right
).
"If you are willing to receive the appointment letter, there is no turning back," he said at a press conference in Johor Baru this morning before presenting appointment letters to several PKR candidates in Johor.
Meanwhile, in Kota Kinabalu , Sabah DAP candidates took an oath that they will not resign from the party or defect to another party.
Led by Kapayan candidate Dr Edwin Bosi, the candidates pledged to vacate their seats if they ever do so, in the event that they are elected as an assemblyperson or MP.
Triggering an interim ban
This would trigger a by-election and an interim ban against the person who vacated the seat from re-contesting.
“The vacation of my seat shall be deemed absolutely lawful and irrevocable,” the candidates pledged.
PKR will contest 12 out of 26 parliamentary constituencies and 12 out of the 56 state constituencies in Johor.
PKR took the biggest chunk of parliamentary seats among the three Pakatan Rakyat parties, while PAS dominated at the state level, contesting 30 seats.
Out of the 24 candidates in both parliamentary and state levels, only two state seat candidates have contested before under the PKR flag.
The battle to make inroads into the stronghold state of BN is led by state chief Chua Jui Meng ( left ), who has started his campaign in the parliamentary constituency of Segamat .
Other notable parliamentary seat candidates are Dayangku Intan Tengku Abdul Hamid - a popular singer in the 1980s related to the Kedah royal family - who will face former minister Azalina Othman in Pengerang , and former army chief Gen (Rtd) Md Hashim Hussein who will contest in Johor Bahru against former minister Shahrir Samad, a long-time Umno MP in Johor.
In addition, NGO Wadah Pencerdasan Umat Malaysia (Wadah) vice-president and former leader of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) Mohd Idris Jauzi will contest in Batu Pahat against caretaker deputy education minister Puad Zakarshi.
Idris had been the Biro Tata Negara deputy director-general when PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim was in the government.
Other candidates are PKR Youth secretary and blogger Julailey Jemadi ( Sekijang ), former Parti Rakyat Malaysia president and current PKR state vice-chairperson Hasan Abdul Karim ( Ledang ), Muar PKR parliamentary coordinator Nor Hizwan Ahmad ( Muar ), state deputy election director Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar ( Sri Gading ), Putrajaya division chief Onn Abu Bakar ( Sembrong ), deputy national secretary-general Steven Choong ( Tebrau ), state deputy chief Ahmad Faidhi Saidi ( Pasir Gudang ) and Pontian youth chief Haniff @ Ghazali Hosman ( Pontian ).
'Eighty percent locals at state level'
Answering questions from the media, Choong explained that 80 percent of the candidates at state level are local, whereas most parliamentary candidates are 'imported' outside of Johor as they play a different role which does not require them to originate from the constituencies.
Commenting on BN's argument that its candidates are mostly locals who can serve the constituents better, Choong said that Pakatan is looking at the national political scenario and the winds of change among the voters.
“So people who understand (the national political scenario) will vote for the party, not the candidates.”
He further pointed out that PKR's focus is to garner the support of Malay voters, while DAP will be covering the Chinese votes.
Hence, mega ceramahs which can attract hundreds, if not thousands of Chinese audience will not be PKR's main approach. Instead, the party will organise more house-to-house visits and walkabouts to assimilate into the Malay communities, he explained.
Choong also denied allegations that PKR leaders have refused to attend DAP’s ceramahs.
“DAP did invite our leaders, but we could not join because sometimes we have other campaign activities to attend.”
Additional reporting by Aidila Razak.
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