This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 11, 2018

BUTTERWORTH: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) is making a renewed bid to play a check and balance role in national politics by contesting in the upcoming 14th general election (GE14).

The party, having been inactive for some time, has lined up candidates for 80 state and 20 parliamentary seats in Penang, Perak, Kedah and Sabah, its secretary-general Koh Swe Yong told reporters here.

“We will be using our own money to fund our candidacies contrary to allegations that we are receiving funds from Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno. If we did do that, we would be contesting more than 100 seats. We are not here to split votes but play the role of an effective check and balance to the government,” he said.

The democratic socialist party was formed in 1955 by leftist Ahmad Boestamam. Previously, several leaders including six presidents were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for various reasons including its affiliation with communism. To date, it has about 10,000 members. “Today, we are here to continue the fight for the people. We want to be a governing party but before achieving that, we will become an effective opposition party to either BN or Pakatan Harapan,” Koh said.

In Penang, PRM will field 18 candidates new to politics in 18 state and four parliament seats, to bring up public-centric issues. The group targets fence sitters disillusioned with incumbent political parties’ promises, said Penang PRM head Tang Hiang Lye. Having left Gerakan after 19 years in 2011, he will contest the Bukit Tengah state and Batu Kawan parliament seats in GE14.

Former one-term Sidam assemblyman and executive councillor in Kedah, Tan Chow Kang, 76, who won on a PKR ticket in 2008, will contest in Bukit Tengah on mainland Penang. Tan, arrested under the ISA in 1966, and later banished under the Emergency Ordinance for being a communist party sympathiser, joined the Labour Party in 1959 that was part of the Malayan Peoples’ Socialist Front coalition.

Other PRM candidates to be fielded in Penang include two former journalists Chua Cheong Wee, 49, and Chew Seng Tung, 35, who want to keep incumbent leaders on their toes. “People need to know they can question the government. We may not win but at least we tell the people they should bring up issues. In a way, we are educating them,” said Chua, formerly Kwong Wah Yit Poh writer.