Siti Kasim Rallies Behind Psm Give Smaller Parties A Chance To Deliver Shocker In Ayer Kuning By Election

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HUMAN rights activist and lawyer Siti Kasim has echoed the hardline stance of former DAP stalwart Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy that Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) should be given a chance to shine in the upcoming Ayer Kuning bye-election.
The former Penang deputy chief minister II and three-term Perai state assemblyman has contended that PSM’s decision to contest in the by-election should not be determined by the likelihood of winning.
“Democracy is not merely about winning or losing – it’s about participation, expression and the shaping of public discourse,” justified the now United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council chairman in a recent Facebook post.

“Even if PSM doesn’t secure the seat, the votes it does receive will be a clear signal of growing dissatisfaction among the subaltern classes towards a government perceived to be serving the interests of the elite and well-connected.”
Madani hypocrisy
Resonating the same chorus, Siti Kasim hit out at the sheer hypocrisy of the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led Madani administration for having ‘recycled’ bad habits of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government which they once fought tooth and nail against when they were in the opposition.
Bearing the brunt of her criticism is Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming for resorting to the old trick of doling out sweetener in the form of a RM6.13 mil allocation for 33 development and infrastructure projects within the Tapah parliamentary constituency.

In fact, BERSIH (the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) had on Thursday (April 10) described the announcement by Nga who is also National DAP deputy chairman and Perak state chairman a few days before commencement of polling campaign as violating guidelines on clean elections.
Editor’s Note: Ayer Kuning forms one of the two state seats in the Tapah parliamentary constituency (the other being Chenderiang).
“Ironically, PH coalition parties had vehemently objected the rolling out of development projects prior to an election as a means of vote buying when they were in the opposition,” fumed Siti Kasim in her latest YouTube rant.

“That they’re now repeating the same behaviour that they once rejected and despised simply means that there’s no difference between the Madani government and the past administrations (in particular BN).”
Healthy contest
Drawing from her own experience of having contested in a 10-corner battle for the Batu parliamentary constituency during the 15th General Election (GE15) in November 2022, Siti Kasim stressed the need for a clean and transparent political competition.
“As PSM is deprived of financial muscles, voters must decide based on integrity, policies, service track record as opposed to promises of development projects which suddenly surfaced during election campaign period,” asserted the Orang Asli advocate.
A three-cornered fight is in the offing for the Ayer Kuning by-election on April 26: (From left) Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Dr Mohamad Yusri Bakir, Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Abd Muhaimin Malek and Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) K.S. Bawani (Image credit: Bernama)As per the outcome of Saturday’s (April 12) nomination process, the Ayer Kuning state by-election on April 26 will be a three-way tussle with Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Dr Mohamad Yusri Bakir facing Abd Muhaimin Malek of Perikatan Nasional (PN) and PSM’s secretary general K.S. Bawani.
“Hence, if I’m an Ayer Kuning electorate, I shall pick the MUDA-backed PSM candidate as we need to give new faces a chance … we’re already fed-up for we already know the attitude of BN/PH when they become the government of the day,” reckoned Siti Kasim.
“(As) they can’t be trusted and will do what’s necessary to safeguard their power, the onus is on us to retrieve the power from them with our voting power which is the most powerful instrument to demolish injustice.”

She added: “I therefore call on all Ayer Kuning folks to daringly vote for anyone except the BN/PH and the PN-PAS candidate … this includes smaller parties or even independent candidates to inject new blood so those in power become aware that the voters don’t wish to be taken for a ride.
“As for fence sitters who are too lazy to vote, bear in mind that this is a citizenry obligation to evaluate if the government of the day is fulfilling their duties for their electorate or only for themselves, their parties and their crones.
“Remember that all of us have the power to dump under-performing government or politicians.” –  Focus Malaysia

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