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KUALA LUMPUR – Former PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang will allegedly hold a closed-door meeting with party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim before polling day for the 15th general election (GE15) this Saturday.
According to Chua’s lawyer Gurmukh Singh, authorities had advised the duo against a public meeting as it could potentially incite hostilities between the opposing blocs.
New Straits Times quoted Gurmukh as saying that he had recommended Chua, better known as Tian Chua, to arrange for a four-eyed meeting with Anwar as opposed to a public confrontation.
Chua is contesting as an independent candidate in Batu after PKR overlooked him in favour of the constituency’s incumbent MP, P. Prabakaran.
Chua’s candidacy had prompted Anwar to issue a statement expressing his dismay and saying his long-time ally will automatically be sacked because of this latest development.
Chua was a two-term Batu MP, winning the seat in the 2008 and 2013 national polls before he was disqualified from contesting in the 2018 general election on the grounds of technicality.
He and PKR later agreed to back Prabakaran, who was initially contesting on an independent ticket. The strategy inevitably worked, as Prabakaran ran away with the contest, and, in doing so, increased the majority from 13,284 to a staggering 24,438.
Meanwhile, Anwar also ostensibly lashed out against Chua during a campaign yesterday, saying: “Let him (Chua) be. I see his posters here and there…maybe to make sure people don’t forget him.”
Yesterday, it was reported that Chua had signed a statutory declaration two weeks ago supporting Anwar as Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister candidate if the coalition reclaims Putrajaya in GE15.
The document was signatured by Chua prior to Anwar being made aware of the former’s decision to risk losing his PKR membership to regain Batu as an independent candidate. – The Vibes, November 16, 2022