SUNGAI PETANI: Rembau PKR vice division chief Dr S Streram should be retained as the candidate for Rantau, should a by-election be called, in light of the effort he made to defend his right to contest which he was denied of during the 14th General Election (GE14).
Sungai Petani MP Datuk Johari Abdul said it wouldn't fair if another individual is selected to contest instead of Streram.
"Let the leadership decide, in the meantime let us ponder... he (Streram) should have contested, and if he did, maybe he would have won the seat (during GE14)... suddenly, he was denied his rights.
"And now, when he can contest, are we going to reject him and give it (the seat) to someone else? This wouldn't be fair," he said when contacted today.
Johari said this when asked to comment on suggestions being made for Mohd Rafizi Ramli to contest the Rantau state seat instead.
"With regard to suggestions about Rafizi, he already made it clear that he is not interested.
"Apart from that, the president himself said the seat should be given to the previous candidate," Johari said, referring to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
In the GE14, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan was declared as having won the Rantau state seat in Negri Sembilan unopposed following Streram's failure to file his nomination papers on Apr 28.
The reason Streram failed to do so was because an Election Commission (EC) returning officer would not allow the PKR candidate to enter the nomination hall as he did not have a valid EC pass.
Streram later challenged the decision by filing a petition after the conclusion of GE14.
Last week, the Special Election Court in Seremban ruled in Streram's favour by declaring Mohamad's win as null and void, stating that a by-election must be held soon in Rantau.
Mohamad however has 14 days from the date of the ruling to file an appeal.
