Kota Alam Shah assemblyperson M Manoharan today proposed that Human Rights Party leader P Uthayakumar be picked as the PKR candidate in the Hulu Selangor by-election.

He argued that Indian support for Pakatan Rakyat is fast eroding and thus the best candidate for the parliamentary seat would be Uthayakumar as he can attract the sizable Indian votes in the mixed constituency.

"It is a good opportunity for Pakatan Rakyat to bring him on our side as he would be an asset to our coalition," said Manoharan, who won his state seat for DAP at the 2008 general elections while he was detained under the Internal Security Act.

The lawyer-cum-politician was held for about 18 months alongside Uthayakumar and three other Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Front) activists.

In justifying his choice, Manoharan said that PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim should explore long-term measures to secure Indian votes in the next general elections.

hindraf btn 151209 manoharan uthayakumar According to Manoharan ( left in photo ), Pakatan has nothing to lose by fielding Uthayakumar ( right in photo ) as a candidate.

Uthayakumar and his yet-to-be-registered HRP have been firing potshots at PKR and Pakatan for their failures in addressing issues affecting the Indian community.

Manoharan conceded that Uthayakumar has trained his guns at PKR over the past year, but he was optimistic that his fellow Hindraf activist can work together with Pakatan.

"Make him an ally not a foe as he knows how to resolve the Indian community's problem," said Manoharan.

Uthayakumar to consider

Uthayakumar has unveiled plans to contest 15 parliamentary and 42 state seats, all of which boast substantial Indian voters. This includes seats held by Pakatan's Indian politicians.

azlan Meanwhile, Uthayakumar was coy when asked to comment on Manoharan’s suggestion.

"If I am given the leeway to bring about changes in regards to the critical Indian community problems, I will consider," he told Malaysiakini.

The Hulu Selangor seat fell vacant following the death of its incumbent representative, Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad, two days ago. The Election Commission will announce the date of the by-election next Friday.

Indian Malaysians comprise about 19 percent of the 63,593 voters in the semi-urban constituency, which is located north of Selangor.

Mixed reactions from PKR

In an immediate reaction, Kapar MP S Manikavasagam said that he had no problem with Uthayakumar being the PKR candidate.

“But of course, he will have to join PKR first,” he said.

francis udayappan submit memo 150405 manikasavagam Manikavasagam ( right ) said that PKR had already identified a few good candidates to contest the seat, but his preference would be an Indian Malaysian.

“I have asked the party to put an Indian candidate to stand against MIC,” he said.

“I am not being a racist, but our track record has shown that we won 100 percent of the time when we went up against a MIC candidate. Also, the fact remains that the Indian PKR MPs have been loyal to the party,” he added.

When asked why he is confident that an Indian candidate will triumph in the Malay-majority constituency, Manikavasagam said he scored a 2,000-vote majority over his MIC opponent in the last general elections although Kapar had 51 percent Malay voters.

Racial politics

Meanwhile, Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jeyakumar felt that Uthayakumar may not be a good candidate for PKR.

“Uthaya is not a PKR member and secondly, over the past few months, his writings and comments against the party have been very antagonistic,” he explained.

When asked if PKR should field an Indian candidate, he insisted that the party will chose its candidate based on capability instead of race.

“We need to move away from racial politics,” said Xavier, who is PKR supreme council member.

“I don't think that we need an Indian candidate to stand against MIC. Based on the last general elections, people were not voting based on race. Rather, they voted based on party ideology,” he said.