Anwar personally handles Hulu Selangor campaign
Anwar has been on a vigorous tour around Hulu Selangor since the death of incumbent Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad that triggered the country’s 10th by-election since Election 2008.
By Debra Chong and Syed Jaymal Zahiid, The Malaysian Insider
Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is the PKR choice for the Hulu Selangor by-election, but it is Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who is personally leading the charge to keep the seat and the party momentum intact in the key vote.
The PKR and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) de facto leader headlined a series of ceramahs in the parliamentary constituency the size of Malacca state last night, promoting the coalition’s multiracial face and slamming his political foes for their racial politics.
Anwar reserved the vitriol for his former party Umno, which touted the Barisan Nasional (BN) multiracial character by naming MIC information chief, P. Kamalanathan, as its candidate for the April 25 by-election, despite half the electorate being Malay.
“Umno thinks this is their land. They treat the Indians and Chinese like dirt. But we in PR, we do not believe in this. We believe we, all the races, must come together. We are here to work for all and not just the Malays,” he thundered to a multi-racial crowd at a ceramah here.
Selangor, under PR’s control since Election 2008, was testament of PR’s belief in multi-racialism, with PKR Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim practising people-oriented governance for all and not just in the interest of a single race, said Anwar
“Look at the former Umno MB and Khalid. When he gives out free water, it is not just for Malays but for the Indians and the Chinese.”
Anwar is headlining the PKR effort to retain Hulu Selangor. — Pictures by Jack Ooi
Anwar has been on a vigorous tour around Hulu Selangor since the death of incumbent Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad that triggered the country’s 10th by-election since Election 2008.
The by-election here is crucial for Anwar and PR to restore faith in the coalition’s ambitions to capture Putrajaya in the next general elections, after it lost four PKR MPs recently.
It suffered another blow yesterday when PKR’s Batu Arang state assemblyman, Tan Wei Shu, quit the party citing loss of confidence in the party leadership. The timing of his resignation has dented PR’s full-throttled fight for Hulu Selangor, as sentiments on the ground put its rivals BN in a favourable position to win.
But Anwar appeared unperturbed by this as he continued to mesmerise the crowd and sought to win their hearts through his oratory skills.
