PSM says can stand on own feet
(The Malaysian Insider) – Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) said today it would use its own party logo in coming elections but will continue friendly co-operation with Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
PSM secretary-general S. Arutchelvan also said the party, which contested under PKR tickets in previous elections, was not interested in fighting for more seats.
“PSM has explained to Anwar on the reasons why PSM wants to be friends of PR and not be a member of PR because this relationship will benefit both sides and we will continue to explain to PR parties if the need arises,” he said referring to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“Our position today is that PSM is agreeable to use a common opposition logo and even have an election pact with PR and agree to a PR led manifesto, if there are no glaring contradictions,” said Arutchelvan in a statement today.
“But in a situation where there is no common logo and each party is going to use their own logo, we feel that it is only fair to allow PSM to use its own logo in places which PSM would be contesting.
“It would look idiotic for the party not to use its own logo after fighting 11 years against the state to get it registered and it would look ridiculous that this right is now denied not by the BN but by the PR,” he added.
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali had recently said that PKR would allow PSM to contest in additional seats “as long as they continue to stand with us.”
PSM won two out of four seats it contested in 2008, in Sungai Siput where Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj defeated then-MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu while PSM chairman Dr Nasir Hashim won the Kota Damansara seat in the Selangor state legislative assembly.
PSM was also involved in a three-cornered fight in the Perak state seat of Jelapang when it fielded M. Saraswathy as an independent candidate against DAP’s Datuk Hee Yit Foong and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Loh Koi Pin. Hee has since quit DAP to become a BN-friendly Independent.
However, PSM also said it would not demand for more seats in the next general election.
