GE14 | Parti Rakyat Malaysia, which recently re-emerged in the headlines after a decade-long hiatus, has announced that it will be fielding candidates in four parliamentary and 18 state seats in Penang for the May 9 national polls.

PRM president Ariffin Salimon announced the party's candidate list in Butterworth today.

The four parliamentary candidates for Penang are Azman Shah (Tasek Gelugor), Tan Lay Hock (Bagan), Tan Hiang Lye (Batu Kawan) and Samsuddin Yacob (Nibong Tebal). The four are also slated to stand for state seats.

Two former journalists, Chua Cheong Wee and Chew Seng Tung will contest in the Tanjung Bungah and Pengkalan Kota state seats respectively, while former PKR Kedah exco Tan Chow Kang will be fielded in Sungai Bakap.

PRM had on Saturday announced that it aimed to field five parliamentary and 15 state candidates.

The Election Commission today declared May 9 as the date Malaysians go to the polls, with nomination day fixed on April 28.

PRM was in the news recently when the party's former stalwarts questioned the legality and leadership of the party, which former Malay nationalist Ahmad Boestaman founded in the 1950s.

Former state vice-chairperson Gary V Nair had lodged a report with the Registrar of Societies, urging that the party be probed as he claimed that members were not notified of its new leadership, and that no meetings have been held since 2014.

Nair had asked the ROS to be as strict with PRM as it was with Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Bersatu, which was recently slapped with a provisional dissolution order.

He also alleged that the party was being funded by BN to split Pakatan Harapan votes, as the party's coffers were not substantial enough for such a large election push.

Not funded by BN

Responding to the allegations today, PRM secretary-general Koh Swee Yong (photo) said the party was founded in 1955, much earlier than Harapan – meaning that it is the latter that is splitting votes.

"So, who is splitting the votes? If you want to talk about splitting the opposition support, they are but not us."

As for the claim of being funded by BN, Koh pointed out that the party previously had only three to five candidates, and remains short of financial resources.

"But if we were really financed by Umno, then we shouldn't be contesting only few seats.

"All our candidates use their own money, from their own pockets, some had to pull out as they didn't have enough money," he added.

External criticism

On claims of ROS violations, Koh explained the party allowed those who offered themselves to serve the people to contest under a PRM ticket – so long as they can fund their own campaigns.

He also stressed that all PRM members joined the party according to the party's constitution. 

"Those who make the criticisms are non-active members, they don't know the actual situation in the party.

"But if they think we don't follow procedure, they should ask us (about it), instead of going straight to the media and throw out all kinds of baseless allegations.

"For instance, we have applied to ROS to postpone the party congress and the approval was granted," Koh claimed.

PRM northern region chief Tan Chow Kang also denied the claims of BN funding, noting that not every candidate needs large war chest to campaign.

"Don't bluff (by saying) that you need RM50,000 for the election campaign, in fact RM10,000 is sufficient for a candidate to run his or her own campaign," he said.

Meanwhile, Koh announced that PRM will field around 100 candidates in four states – Penang, Kedah, Selangor and Sabah, for a total of 20 parliamentary and 80 state seats. 

PRM claims to have, at present, 10,000 members nationwide, with 2,000 in Penang alone.