PKR will not use state gov't facilities to campaign

PKR will not take advantage of its position in the Pakatan Rakyat-led government to appropriate state facilities when campaigning in the Hulu Selangor by-election, said the party’s election strategist Fuziah Salleh.

Fuziah, who is also Kuantan MP, said that there is a clear separation of powers when it comes to party and government administration.

 

“The state government officials will carry on with their work. They already have their own role to play.

 

“We are not like BN, where we would ask the government staff to help us campaign. We have our own party machinery for that,” Fuziah told reporters after the party's supreme council meeting at its headquarters in Tropicana this afternoon.

 

She also said that it is party policy to pay for whatever facilities it will need when campaigning.

 

"We will definitely pay rent if we need to borrow," she said.

 

In doing so, Fuziah said, the party hopes to send a strong message to the Election Commission (EC), and that the EC would monitor BN’s campaigning activities, especially in its use of public halls and other state facilities.

 

Felda settlers ‘critical segment’

 

The by-election will prove to be a baptism of fire for Fuziah, who took over the post of tactician from Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in January. Saifuddin went on to become the party's secretary-general.

 

From her analysis of Hulu Selangor voters, Fuziah identified the 3,000-odd Felda settlers as being the "critical voter segment".

 

"The federal government will promise them all sorts of things and they will always buy into their words," she said.

She added that the party strategy for now is just to inform the voters of PKR’s stand on various issues and to continue helping the poor and senior citizens.

 

There are 64,500 registered voters in total in the constituency, comprising 32,020 Malays (52.7 percent), 16,964 Chinese (26.3 percent), 12,453 Indians (19.3 percent) and 3,063 others (1.7 percent).