'Arul4Semenyih' campaign start amid seat row

An online campaign to support the candidacy of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan, or Arul, in the Semenyih state seat has emerged.

This movement was started amid the current seat tussle between PSM and its Pakatan Rakyat allies which has strained ties between the Opposition parties, namely PKR and DAP.

For the Semenyih seat, PSM was dealt an unexpected blow when PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday decided to announce its own candidate, Hamidi Hassan.

This had upset PSM as it had already agreed to PKR’s insistence that PSM uses the former’s logo, rather than the PSM’s fist symbol.

A Facebook page “Arul for Semenyih” was set up last night and has drawn 400 likes at this time.

Political scientist and activist Wong Chin Huat said that he created the page asking people to change their profile picture to that of Arul in an attempt to “democratise” candidates selection process.

“Many Malaysians want to see a clear showdown between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. I’m not in any appetite to see a three-cornered fight, so here I’m asking PKR to back off,” said Wong, also a Bersih 2.0 sterring committee member.

Wong said that he supported Arul because eventhough PSM was a smaller party, the candidate, Arul who has been on the ground for five years, was strong.

“He is a fellow activist that has been in the frontline for campaigns such as Bersih, abolishing ISA, and many others that fight for the underdog such as minimum wage, housing rights, human rights.

Wong predicts two possible outcomes if PKR insisted with a three-cornered fight: Arul may win, or BN may win by a slim majority due to split votes.