As Kajang poll nears, Kit Siang in bid to rally voters

(MM) – DAP’s Lim Kit Siang today urged Kajang voters to come out in force to back PKR’s Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail this Sunday, as he conceded that his previous aim of denying Barisan Nasional (BN) of its deposit was now an “impossibly tall order”.

Retreating from his previous optimism, the veteran lawmaker today sought to make the March 23 by-election into a bellwether of support for Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) efforts to combat the alleged abuses that led to the conviction of two senior opposition leaders.

“I do not think I can achieve my first hope that the Kajang voters make the Barisan Nasional lose the deposit on Sunday’s by-election, which I admit is an ‘impossibly tall order’ but I have confidence that my second hope, that the voters of Kajang will represent the 30 million voters at this important juncture of the nation’s history and development to achieve the four-fold objective to save Anwar, save Karpal, save the judiciary and to save nation is eminently realizable,” the Gelang Patah MP said in a statement today.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had his previous sodomy acquittal  overturned on March 7 while DAP chairman Karpal Singh was found guilty of sedition on March 11. The PR pact maintains both charges are politically-driven.

Today, Lim said he was told that BN’s candidate, MCA deputy president Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun,  would achieve a “rock bottom” of 8,000 votes, putting her in a position to slash PKR’s majority from Election 2013.

He then urged the nearly 40,000 voters in the state constituency to come out and help Dr Wan Azizah achieve the  “eminently realisable” aim of topping former Kajang assemblyman Lee Chin Cheh’s 6,824-vote majority from the previous general election.

The Kajang by-election was triggered by Lee’s unforced resignation to make way for Anwar to contest.

But Anwar was disqualified after he was found guilty of committing sodomy on March 7, just days before nomination, forcing PKR to field Dr Wan Azizah in his stead.

Dr Wan Azizah will face MCA’s Chew in a straight fight this Sunday.