The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: The coming Hulu Selangor by-election will be a referendum for the people of Selangor on the state Pakatan Rakyat government, PKR strategic director Tian Chua said.
“It is very much the assessment or test of Pakatan in Selangor,” he said at the Parliament lobby yesterday.
Tian Chua said the key factor in the election would not be the candidate but the performance of the Pakatan government in Selangor.
He said Pakatan was not in a rush to announce its candidate as it would not be an advantage for the party to announce before Barisan Nasional.
“Strategically, I do not see why we need to rush and announce the candidate before Barisan. It is more important for us to go down to the grassroots,” he said.
Tian Chua said the constituents would judge Barisan based on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s mid-term performance.
“It will be whether they are happy with the Barisan and whether the Selangor people think they are sincere enough in pushing forward change and reform or just rhetoric,” he said.
He said the party had yet to finalise its list of candidates and the five names shortlisted by PKR election director Fuziah Salleh would most probably be put before the political bureau meeting tomorrow.
It has been speculated that Pakatan’s candidate could come from among Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud and Sabak Bernam PKR chief Dr Badrul Amin.