Younger candidates deserve a chance, Anwar tells Tian Chua

PKR's move to drop several incumbent MPs from contesting in the 15th general election (GE15) is to give "new faces" a chance to shine, its president Anwar Ibrahim said.

The opposition leader’s remark comes following former PKR vice-president Tian Chua’s warning that dropping several incumbent MPs ahead of the polls could hurt the party by upsetting the grassroots and voters.

"I would like to emphasise to Tian Chua that we still need the support of these senior politicians to continue guiding youths in the party.

"I met with him (Tian Chua) for a while and listened to his views yesterday. As I mentioned in my speech last night, not all (incumbent) MPs can be maintained.

“Otherwise, the younger generation will not be able to move up the ranks,” the Pakatan Harapan chairperson was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today after an event in Bangi today.

Last night PKR announced its list of candidates for GE15 in Peninsular Malaysia.

Eight incumbent MPs were dropped from the list, namely Natrah Ismail (Sekijang), June Leow (Hulu Selangor), Maria Chin Abdullah (Petaling Jaya), R Sivarasa (Sungai Buloh), Tan Yee Kiew (Wangsa Maju), Lee Boon Chye (Gopeng), Chan Ming Kai (Alor Setar) and Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani).

Three others, meanwhile, were moved to other constituencies. This includes Anwar himself (from Port Dickson to Tambun), his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (from Pandan to Bandar Tun Razak), and Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin (from Hang Tuah Jaya to Bagan Datuk).

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