Contesting Sg Siput will muddy Harapan’s credential as a reformer

COMMENT | The merits and viability of their socialist agenda aside, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) has produced an exemplary Member of Parliament in Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj.

The threat by Perak DAP to field a candidate to contest both Jeyakumar and the BN nominee in the coming general election (GE14) would send the wrong signal to the Malaysian electorate.

It would semaphore the message that the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan, which is composed of Bersatu DAP, PKR and Amanah, are heedless of the merits of an MP whose dedication to his constituents is regarded as the standard to emulate by other MPs.

One can view the socialist agenda as utopian and unworkable and still regard Jeyakumar as an outstanding elected representative.

The PSM decision to contest in 20 federal and state seats in GE14 is likely to see the party involved in three- to four-cornered fights in some of them, such as the state ward of Jelapang and the parliamentary seat of Cameron Highlands.

As retaliation, the DAP which holds Jelapang and narrowly missed out in Cameron Highlands at the last election, has threatened to field a candidate in Sungai Siput, Jeyakumar's field of electoral endeavour in four general elections since the 1999 one.

He won the last two on a PKR ticket – scuppering the redoubtable S Samy Vellu in 2008 – and now, for GE14, his party wants him to contest in Sungai Siput, using the PSM symbol.

Many would argue that the symbol - an upraised clenched fist against a red backdrop – is unsuitable in this country with a past history of bloody struggle against militant communism.

Also, technological innovation in the workplace has made union-organising and agitation horribly passe.

But trying to persuade the leading lights of PSM about this would be as futile an endeavour as attempting to tell PAS that Malaysia can be a well-governed, economically vibrant and stable country without the imposition of Islamic law on its Muslim citizens.