Star, Monday June 7, 2010
PRM to contest as many seats as it can in next polls
PETALING JAYA: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) wants to contest as many seats as possible in the next general election – even if it has to take on Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat in three-cornered fights.
Its secretary-general Koh Swe Yong said the party had no plans to negotiate with Pakatan to settle for straight fights.
“We have no links to Pakatan because PKR does not recognise us. We will try our best to avoid multi-cornered fights but if it can’t be helped, we will take on all of them,” he said after the central committee meeting here yesterday.
Koh said discussions with Pakatan to avoid three-cornered fights were not possible because PKR did not recognise PRM as a party despite a court ruling affirming its existence.
PKR had been at loggerheads with PRM ever since some of the latter’s top leaders agreed to a controversial merger between the two in 2003.
Koh also dismissed the possibility of PRM joining Pakatan, adding that “it is very unlikely that members will be agreeable to it.”
During the meeting, the central committee decided to contest seats in Selangor, Perak, Penang, Kedah, Pahang, Federal Territory and Johor in the next general election.
In the last general election, PRM contested two parliamentary seats in Johor Baru and Selayang, and two state constituencies in Johor Jaya and Stulang. They lost all the contests.
“We will be holding courses for members as part of our early preparation to face the next general election,” said Koh.
He said PRM would also stick to its own policies and programmes and would not harp on Pakatan’s shortcomings.
“We will work on the premise of those policies. We do not want to ride on weaknesses of others. We want to draw on our own strengths,” he said, adding that the party aimed to recruit more members.
Koh also said PRM would hold its congress on Nov 14, adding that it had formed a committee to decide on its agenda. - Star,
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