PSM: No to race, yes to credibility

exclusive In opposing the‘racist regime’ of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, opposition parties should not play the racial card themselves, said grassroots activist S Arutchelvan.

Oposition parties, he said, must revise their tactics and not play to the gallery, as the BN has been doing, or it would plunge the country into an irreparable state of polarisation.

Arutchelvan, who is pro-tem secretary-general of the as-yet-unregistered Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), said in an interview that votes can no longer be raked in based on use of race-based issues.

"In Ijok, PKR placed its treasurer Khalid Ibrahim as a candidate because they thought that it is a Malay-dominated constituency. But an Indian BN candidate won. This shows that the race game does not work any more," he reasoned.

K Parthiban of MIC won the Ijok state seat in a by-election last April, with a majority of 1,850 votes over Khalid.

"It’s high time things change. We are opposing a racist regime but yet we are playing the racial cards ourselves," point out Arutchelvan.

PSM has proposed various measures to opposition leaders - not to nominate candidates based on race, but on their track-record of service to constituencies and whether they are ‘clean’ (free of corruption).

"Most parties degrade the people by promising them goodies when an election is near and we find this extremely insulting. We (PSM) believe that candidates must be those of unquestionable commitment when it comes to helping out communities," he said.

He also disclosed that PSM leaders, including himself, will contest three state seats and one parliamentary seat in Selangor and Perak as these states are a stronghold.

The candidates will contest under the PKR banner because PSM is not registered (see Chart below) and is therefore barred by election laws from fielding nominees directly in a general election.

Arutchelvan plans to stand in the Semenyih state seat, while party pro-tem president Dr Nasir Hashim will contest in the Kota Damansara state seat.

However, PSM and PKR have yet to conclude negotiations over the Semenyih seat, as the latter is contemplating sending in its Selangor chief Zainal Abidin Ahmad.

Arutchelvan said pro-tem central committee member Dr D Jeyakumar (left) may again take on MIC head S Samy Vellu (right) in the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in Perak, as well as contest the Jalong state seat.

"(Jeyakumar) has done tremendous (amount of) groundwork there and we believe that he is the most suitable candidate to contest both seats. As you can see, we have chosen our candidate based on the work done and not on race," he stressed.

In a statement issued today, however, Arutchelvan said PSM may consider giving up its claim to the Sungai Siput seat to prevent a three-corner fight with DAP, but only if the latter is willing to field its top leaders.

In return, PSM also wants the three state seats of Buntong, Bercham and Jelapang (all in or around Ipoh, Perak.

PSM is already gearing up for the general election, campaign in the selected constituencies through leaflet-distribution and holding small-scale ceramah (political talks).

The election date has yet to be announced, but all parties have stepped up their activities following speculation that it will be held by next month.

Q&A: 'Race-based tactics will fail in polls'