Yusmadi supporters to stage a picket against PKR's decision

A group of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) members are determined to cast spoilt votes in the upcoming 13th general election if the party does not retain Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusof as a candidate in the constituency.

The group also urged the party’s president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Ismail and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to explain the reason why an ‘outsider’ was nominated for the constituency.

The group of over 400 supporters of Yusmadi said they will be holding a picket in Balik Pulau today as they believe only Yusmadi is able to represent them in the Parliament.

On April 6, Anwar announced resource manager Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik from Teluk Kumbar as the candidate to be replacing Yusmadi in the constituency.

“Before this we had Yusmadi. Yusmadi was a good Parliamentarian and I would like to express my gratitude for his service.

“However, the time has come for him to be given other tasks in my office and in the secretariat and maybe in the new government,” he said, as quoted by several media.

The spokesperson of the group said they regret PKR’s leadership which pushed aside voters’ wishes.

“Indeed, it is the leadership’s right (to choose the candidate) but the president has to learn who the people want (as a candidate). The president has to know the people’s wishes,” said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson also said that about 300 Balik Pulau residents have signed a petition to protest the decision to drop Yusmadi.

Yusmadi, a lawyer, first stood for election in the area in 2008.

He defeated BN’s Datuk Dr. Norraessah Mohamad with a mere 708 votes.

Balik Pulau has 49,751 votes, 63 per cent of whom are Malays, 32 per cent if Chinese and four per cent of Indians.