Aziz Bari to voters: Support Ramanan over Umno-loyalist KJ

GE15 | DAP’s Abdul Aziz Bari is the latest to weigh in on the hot seat of Sungai Buloh as he addresses the public’s perception of BN candidate Khairy Jamaluddin.

He reminded voters that while they might be charmed by Khairy personally, they should remember he represents the ‘tainted’ Umno party with its history of racism and corruption.

“To me, under the Westminster parliamentary system that we have, the team is very important. It’s crucial.

“That’s why guys like Khairy should not be voted in despite his Oxford background and his good performance as health minister.

“His remaining in Umno/BN shows he’s committed to a corrupted and racist party,” Aziz (above), a constitutional expert and law professor, told Malaysiakini.

Malaysiakini’s recent visit to Sungai Buloh, a parliamentary constituency in Selangor, showed that many Pakatan Harapan supporters are in “a dilemma”.

This is because, while they support PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as their prime minister candidate, they would not like to see Khairy lose.

Some even explained that they have become pickier to vote and that they might vote based on “personality instead of along party lines” on polling day.

Aziz, who is DAP’s candidate for the Tebing Tinggi state seat in Perak, urged voters not to be swayed.

“Khairy has chosen to be with the kleptocrats’ side and that makes the proclaimed desire to have clean, accountable government a mockery. Khairy chose to turn his back on those principles,” he said.

Khairy served as the youth and sports minister under now disgraced ex-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and Umno is currently led by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who is on trial for corruption.

Harapan’s candidate

However, detractors of Khairy’s opponent in Sungai Buloh - R Ramanan - point out that the latter is a former MIC treasurer-general.

Ramanan resigned from the post in 2014 after the High Court in Kuala Lumpur found him to have obtained RM5.5 million fraudulently by presenting a forged letter in a civil case in 2014.

He then joined PKR.

Ramanan told Malaysiakini on Saturday (Nov 5) that the civil case was just a business misunderstanding and had been resolved amicably.

Aziz admitted that he did not know Ramanan well personally.

“The only thing I can say about him is he’s under Anwar.

“With Khairy, it may be the case of a good guy who chose to be with the wrong company vis-à-vis someone who may not be as good but has chosen to be in a good company,” Aziz added.

Ramanan has also dismissed criticism that he has not been fully transparent.

He was found to not have provided a breakdown of his asset declaration of a net RM63.5 million in assets, including RM4 million in jewellery.

“I have made my declaration and so I want to tell these BN cyber troopers to ask Khairy Jamaluddin for his asset declaration,” Ramanan said.

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