Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor which has been committed to the promotion of the rights of women and communities since its existence, welcomes the possibility of change in Malaysian politics.

The change we envisage will not come automatically as we saw in the Pakatan Rakyat states in the last few years.

We are committed to working with any party that respects the rights of the people especially the marginalised.

In this spirit of working for change in Malaysia we raise our concerns about the tendency of the parties in Pakatan Rakyat to put the interests of their party first.

In this regard we hear that Parti Sosialis Malaysia may not be allowed to run under their party banner.

We are concerned that party interests may result in the interests of the people being adversely affected.

The four PSM candidates are well-known to us in the human rights circles and in their constituencies (whether they won the last elections or not) for their integrity and commitment to the interests of the people.

S Arutchelvan lost by a small margin in Semenyih. Dr Michael Jeyakumar defeated MIC giant Samy Vellu. Dr Nasir Hashim won comfortably in Kota Damansara.

In Sahabat Wanita we have personal experience with Arul and his tireless efforts in addressing issues of the people regardless of its value to him as a politician.

He has consistently served the Kajang/Semenyih community.

He certainly should stand in GE13 for the Semenyih state seat.

Likewise the three other PSM candidates have similar track records with the people.

For us, PSM candidates are a refreshing model of politicians and we will certainly benefit from such types of politicians who put their principles first.

I really hope that Pakatan Rakyat will consider this issue seriously and make a pro-people decision.

IRENE XAVIER is the president of Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor.