HRP secretary-general P Uthayakumar says he is willing to stand as a PAS candidate in the general election.
Alyaa Azhar, FMT
Human Rights Party Malaysia leader P Uthayakumar wants to contest in the Kota Raja parliament seat under the PAS banner but all his attempts to meet PAS leaders so far have been futile.
Uthayakumar, who is HRP’s pro-tem secretary-general, is basing his hope on a meeting with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang early last year.
“Early last year, we met Abdul Hadi Awang at the PAS headquarters with six other MPs in attendance.
“They said that they will field non-Muslims to stand as PAS candidates in the general election. As such, I am prepared to stand as a PAS candidate,” said Uthayakumar.
According to Uthayakumar, unless he is told to back out, he would still want to contest under PAS.
“If they don’t want me to contest under their ticket, they have to explain to me why I don’t deserve to stand as their candidate,” he said.
He however admitted that all attempts to meet with PAS representatives have been futile.
“We want to meet up but whether it is about meeting to ask for seats or to talk about the Indian poor, we have met a stone wall.
“If they do not want to meet up then I would be forced to contest as an independent,” he said.
Relying on Indian voters
When asked as to why he wanted to contest in Kota Raja, he said the decision went hand in hand with his party’s focus on Indian issues.
“The Kota Raja constituency has the highest number of Indian voters, at 29%.
“The constituency is very unique as the Indian community is the majority in the area and there are no army camps and orang asli voters, and we know that the army and orang asli folk are the bulk voters for the BN.
“Therefore, I believe that all these factors will work in my favour,” he said.
