PKR may field Indian candidate for Bkt Selambau

(TheStar) MALACCA: PKR is likely to field an Indian candidate in the by-election for the Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah, with PAS left to decide on its candidate for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary contest in Perak.

PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the seat in Kedah had been allotted to the party.

“There is a likelihood that we will field an Indian candidate,” he told reporters after meeting up with local PKR leaders in Cheng here on Monday night.

The Bukit Selambau seat was vacated after V. Arumugam resigned as Kedah executive council member and state assemblyman.

Arumugam, 55, won the seat as an independent candidate in the March 8 general election last year, then later joined PKR.

The former Royal Malaysian Air Force mechanic beat Barisan Nasional’s candidate S. Krishnan by a majority of 7,695 votes.

As for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat that fell vacant following death of Roslan Shaharum, 50, Anwar said that PAS would be left to decide its choice of candidate.

He said that Aramugam decided to resign from his post as he had been “harassed by certain quarters” to do so and conveyed his decision to both him (Anwar) and PKR president Datin Seri Wan Azizah Ismail.