OPPOSITION TO PUT NEW, YOUNGER FACES FOR 13TH GE

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, Nov 11 (Bernama) -– Malaysia’s People's Justice Party (Parti
Keadilan Rakyat - PKR) plans to place new and younger faces as its candidates in
the country’s next 13th general election.

The People's Justice Party (Malay: Parti Keadilan Rakyat, often known simply
as KeADILan) (PKR) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003.

Its de-facto leader, Anwar Ibrahim, said this would be the best
strategy the party would adopt to face the coming general election which he
believed would be held sooner.

The 13th general election must be held in 2013 or before 2013.

Speaking at a talk held by the Singapore Foreign Correspondents’ Association
here, Anwar said PKR candidates would possibly be in their 20s or 30s as
they would be more appealing to the voters.

He said this would be in line with the party’s brand as a 'Reformasi' party,
and also (because) previous election experiences showed that the party’s older
candidates were prone to losing the election contests.

During a question-and-answer session with about 50 attendees comprising
Singapore-based foreign journalists, diplomats and non-governmental
organisations, Anwar said the PKR would start to work doubly hard to win the
coming general election by going to the ground to meet the people from next
month.

Saying he was upbeat with the upcoming general election, Anwar said he
would
be very glad if the election was held sooner than later, following National
Front's (Barisan Nasional - BN) win in the Galas (Kelantan) and Batu Sapi
(Sabah) seats in the recent by-elections.

Barisan Nasional (Malay for National Front; commonly abbreviated as BN) is a
major political coalition in Malaysia. It has been Malaysia's ruling political
party since independence.

He also said the opposition coalition People's Alliance (Pakatan Rakyat),
comprising PKR, PAS and DAP, would meet after Hari Raya Haji to review its
entire programmes and strategies in facing the general election.

On PKR’s former deputy presidential candidate Zaid Ibrahim’s claims
that there was fraud in the party elections, Anwar said he was not involved in
the election and urged Zaid to complain to the party’s election committee.

Anwar also lambasted several Malaysian media such as TV3 and Utusan, and
Umno leaders for creating fear among the Malays that the country would fall
under non-Malay hands if the opposition took over the country.


-- BERNAMA