SUNGAI BULOH, Nov 16 — Pakatan Harapan chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sought to bolster the campaign of Datuk R. Ramanan, the coalition’s candidate here, which has been eclipsed by that of the Barisan Nasional contender, Khairy Jamaluddin.
Ramanan was fielded instead of the incumbent, R. Sivarasa, to the unhappiness of some constituents and supporters, a handicap which Anwar tried to address today.
“Our candidate (Ramanan) will continue Sivarasa’s good work,” Anwar told the mixed crowd in attendance in Taman Subang Perdana here, who responded in approval.
Earlier, Anwar presented himself and the PH coalition as rejecting communal politics, saying they would be fair to all races in the country.
He said that while this has led some to accuse him of loving other communities more than his own, Anwar explained that he was simply reciprocating love where it was given.
Sivarasa won the seat in the 2018 general election with a 26,634-vote majority, but was not fielded ostensibly due to health issues.
Ramanan is facing six other contenders, but his main opponent has been Khairy, who has transformed his forced move to Sungai Buloh into a platform to pitch himself as a future leader of Umno and potential prime minister of Malaysia.
