High-handedness by top Keadilan officers in handling party matters has forced a group of Perlis leaders, headed by the party's Indera Kayangan co-director Mej (Rtd) Mohd Shariff Abdul Razak, to quit the party.

They said the selection of party candidate for the Indera Kayangan by-election was done without consultation with the state leadership.

According to the defectors, the state leadership had submitted its choice of candidate, Perlis state chief and former secretary-general Mohd Anuar Tahir, to the party headquarters.

"But they later sent a team to Indera Kayangan to canvass for another local candidate besides the name we have submitted," said one of the defectors, ex-state information chief Ridzuan Abu Hassan.

Anuar, who was Keadilan secretary-general until the 2001 party election in November last year, is aligned to the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement or Abim faction. At the party elections last year, he lost the contest for one of the party deputy president's post.

Others in the group which defected last week to Umno are Suzairi Salim (state treasurer), Rosli Debok (state liaison secretary), Zahidy Zain (Kangar division secretary), Zakaria Salleh (Padang Besar division information chief), Jamzuraimi Jamaludin (Kangar division Youth chief) and Azhari Aziz (Kangar Youth treasurer).

Struggle for Malays

According to Ridzuan, the state leaders were not consulted on the selection of the candidate to represent the party in the by-election.

When asked the other reasons for leaving Keadilan, they collectively said that they have found it difficult to pursue their political struggle for the Malays through Keadilan "because we have to please the other races in the party as well".

"We found it comfortable to do so through Umno as its members are mostly Malays. Besides, the decision by the former Keadilan deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaffar to quit the party has also affected our confidence in the capability of the present leadership to continue with the party's struggle," said Ridzuan.

Keadilan eventually decided to field Khoo Yang Chong, a former teacher, to contest tomorrow's Indera Kayangan by-election. Khoo is facing MCA's Oui Ah Lan in a straight fight.