PKR ropes in sons of stalwarts for KL

The sons of two stalwarts from the past have been roped in by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to join their top guns in the city.

Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong, son of "Mr Opposition" Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon, and Ibrahim Yaacob, son of former Kuala Lumpur mayor Yaacob Latif, will be contesting in Wangsa Maju and Setiawangsa respectively.

PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday: "Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong will be our new candidate in Wangsa Maju.

"He is a former land and cooperatives development deputy minister who stood up to the government and fights for Felda people's rights. That speaks volume about him."

The Wangsa Maju parliamentary seat was won by Wee Choo Keong in 2008 under a PKR ticket, but he later declared himself an independent MP.

Ibrahim will re-contest the Setiawangsa seat that he lost in 2008.

"He was winning the seat until the postal votes came in," Anwar said, adding that Setiawangsa had 16,000 registered postal voters in 2008 – the highest in the country.

The duo will join PKR top guns Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Tian Chua and Nurul Izzah Anwar who will defend their Bandar Tun Razak, Batu and Lembah Pantai seats respectively.

"Khalid is the most vigilant and successful mentri besar … People say he is too strict and cheap but that's why Selangor people enjoy free water usage," Anwar said at Bandar Tun Razak.

"Tian Chua is the people's champion … be it the poorest Malay, Chinese or Indian, Tian Chua will fight for them.

"People asked me to move Nurul Izzah to a safer seat but she stood up to me and said no, Lembah Pantai residents are her people and she will continue to serve them."

In 2008, PKR won four out of 11 parliamentary seats in Kuala Lumpur.

-thesundaily