KUALA LUMPUR: Dr S. Streram (pix) of PKR has been nominated to contest the upcoming Rantau state by-election for Pakatan Harapan (PH) as he was denied the right to be the PH candidate for the seat in the 14th general election (GE14), Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
The Prime Minister and PH chairman said he upholds the principle of fairness of allowing a qualified candidate to contest to be elected as the people’s representative.
“We know that he was defeated through cheating. Now, the election result for the seat has been nullified and a by-election is being held to determine the elected representative. So, we field the same person,” he told reporters at the lobby of Parliament.
Dr Mahathir said PH adhered to principles. Just because the opponent is the former mentri besar (of Negri Sembilan, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan), it does not mean that the PH candidate has to be someone else, he added.
“We field the same candidate (of GE14),” he said.
The Rantau by-election has been necessitated by the Federal Court dismissal of an appeal filed by Mohamad Hasan, the Umno deputy president, to set aside the Nov 16 Seremban Election Court decision declaring his unopposed victory in GE14 null and void.
In GE14, Mohamad was declared the winner of the seat after Dr Streram, an anaesthetist, was prohibited from entering the nomination centre to submit his nomination papers because he did not have a pass issued by the EC.
Asked about an allegation that Dr Streram had failed to settle debts, Dr Mahathir said that so long as a candidate is not a bankrupt he or she can contest the election, even if he or she has debts.
PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said a combined PH election machinery will put up stiff fight for the Rantau seat in the by-election, the nomination for which is on March 30 and polling, on April 13.
“We admit that we will face a huge challenge if Umno fields Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan as the candidate because he will have an advantage as the former mentri besar of Negri Sembilan and the past state assemblyman for Rantau.”
Commenting on the possibility of the opposition raising racial issues during the by-election campaign, Mohamed Azmin said it will be done to ensure the survival of the party.
“PH always holds to the principle of all the people in the country benefiting from national prosperity and development. We will explain some of the initiatives the government has taken and we hope the people will accept them,” he added. — Bernama
