IS PERMATANG PAUH INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE A PKR MEMBER?

(The Rakyat Post) – The political affiliation of the Permatang Pauh Independent candidate remains unclear.

Although Salleh Isahak claimed to be an Umno member when met during the nomination earlier, there have been several Umno members speaking up on this, saying that he was once an Umno member but has since left to join PKR.

When contacted, PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli described the matter as being insignificant and did not warrant a check by PKR.

“I am not saying we will not check.. but for now we are not bothered to check anyone’s status and whether he’s a PKR member or not, as it does not make any difference,” said Rafizi.

Salleh’s sudden appearance on nomination day today raised many questions when he stated he was an Umno member from the Alma division but this was later denied by several state Barisan Nasional leaders.

State Barisan Nasional source pointed out that Salleh is a former Umno Alma member but joined PKR, holding the position of the Permatang Pauh PKR secretary between 2008 to 2013.

“He is currently an AJK (committee member) of the same cabang (division) since 2014,” he said.

Azizi explained that Salleh’s Umno membership status might not have been updated in the system due to possible human error.

Salleh handed in his nomination papers at the Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) nomination centre this morning in Bukit Mertajam, as an Independent candidate using the key symbol.

Apart from Salleh, three others will stand for the by-election; Suhaimi Sabudin of BN, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail of PKR and Azhar Shah Othman of Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM).